As N.L. officials chart tariff response, businesses and workers grapple with uncertainty

Businesses and workers across Newfoundland and Labrador are gearing up to face looming U.S. tariffs — and a turbulent future.

David Haire, vice-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said he hasn't seen layoffs, but the threat of tariffs has already created an uncertain business environment.

"We've seen investments start to slow down. We see hiring starting to slow down," he said in an interview with CBC News. "I can tell you … the impact can be severe and we are taking this extremely serious."

According to provincial government officials, more than a third of Newfoundland and Labrador exports go to the United States.

Premier Andrew Furey has said the tariffs could impact more than 10,000 jobs.

Haire says some companies are trying to get as much product into the United States as possible before the tariffs kick in. 

"They don't want to get caught with that inventory. So they're pushing it and in some cases they are discounting," he said.

Jessica McCormick, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, says even if the U.S. government decides to delay the tariffs, the threat of tariffs by itself is having a "chilling effect" on investment. 

"It's going to have long-term consequences, not just for the four years that Donald Trump may be in office, but maybe beyond that," she said.

Furey says all hands on deck

Haire and McCormick are part of a roundtable of industry, labour and government leaders convened by Furey to discuss the tariff threat.

Furey said he wants the federal government to offer a COVID-19-style relief package for industries impacted by the tariffs.

WATCH | As Trump's tariffs loom, N.L. officials, industry leaders and labour representatives plan path forward: 

"I think that they have the ability, that they have levers, that provincial governments don't have," he said while speaking on Thursday to reporters.

The provincial government is planning a formal buy-local marketing campaign in the coming days as part of what Furey calls a "team Newfoundland and Labrador approach."

"We need to be making sure that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and Canadians at large, understand the products and what value they can bring to them," he said.

Responding to disruption

Some firms are jostling to replace American-made products with their own.

Additive XL, a division of Atlantic XL based in St. John's, uses fine metal powders in 3D printing to make metal machine parts for companies in a variety of industries, including oil and gas, health care and mining.

Pascal Milord, project manager with Additive XL, says his company provides a solution to supply chain uncertainty for some industries.

"We're realizing how globalization [has] been a great thing when it works. When it doesn't work, things break," he said.

Milord pointed to the widespread supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of U.S. tariffs as two examples of those threats.

He says he believes Additive XL could replace materials sourced from the United States if the Canadian government implemented retaliatory tariffs.

"We can provide a part that would typically take months from the supplier in Asia or elsewhere in North America, and we can reduce that into weeks, even days sometimes," he said.

Trump's tariff plan still unclear

As recently as last week, Trump has expressed concerns that lax security at the northern border is allowing an influx of fentanyl and migrants into the United States, though just one per cent of illegal drugs entering the country comes from Canada.

On Wednesday, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said Canada could avoid tariffs on Feb. 1 if the federal government does enough to increase border security. 

The federal government has announced $1.3 billion in extra border security measures. Lutnick acknowledged that Canada is taking action.

"I know they are acting swiftly," he said of Mexico and Canada. "And if they execute, there will be no tariff. And if they don't, then there will be." 

Still, Lutnick said the Trump administration is looking several options for tariffs, and decisions will be informed by a trade policy study set to be delivered April 1.

'Throwing a grenade'

Tom Cooper, a Memorial University business professor, says he expects the tariffs to impact some industries more than others.

"The products that they're going to be talking about are what I would say [are] nice to have, not need to have," he said.

The trade partnership between Canada and United States went through rocky patches during the first Trump presidency, but Cooper said tariff threats represent a new direction for a relationship previously built on cooperation.

"There's been mutual trust and respect," he said. "What Trump has been doing is really kind of throwing a grenade into that mutual trust and respect."

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