Getting rid of internal trade barriers requires a 'surgical approach,' says Furey

Newfoundland and Labrador's premier says he's all for more internal trade, but getting rid of long-standing barriers is easier said than done.

While speaking with reporters earlier this week, Andrew Furey called internal trade "the billion-dollar bill on the floor that no one wants to pick up."

"It's very difficult. It's historic. It's territorialism to a certain extent. It's not as straightforward as it appears," he said. "I think that we should all be, as premiers, looking to eliminate those barriers. But it is certainly not as easy as it sounds."

As U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff rhetoric escalated over the past month, some of Canada's premiers have pointed to internal trade as one potential alternative to the U.S. market.

On Thursday, the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the four Atlantic premiers, asking them to dismantle trade barriers.

The chamber's CEO, Rhonda Tulk-Lane, said she wants provincial and federal leaders to look at barriers they can eliminate quickly.

"Businesses are blue in the face talking about cutting red tape," she said.

Anita Anand, federal minister of transport and trade, has said eliminating internal trade barriers could lower prices by up to 15 per cent, increase productivity by up to seven per cent and add up to $200 billion to Canada's economy.

During an event in Halifax on Wednesday, a reporter asked Anand if Ottawa could deal with those barriers in 30 days. She said yes.

"We are making incredible, fast-paced progress with all of the provinces and territories," Anand said.

Years in the making

Provincial and federal leaders have acknowledged internal trade barriers for years, but have been slow in eliminating them.

In 2017, all provinces and territories signed onto the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, but that agreement also includes a list of exemptions for each province. According to the Montreal Economic Institute, Newfoundland and Labrador fell near the middle of the pack as of 2023, with 18 exceptions.

LISTEN | N.L. government, business leaders ready to talk interprovincial trade: 

St John's Morning Show5:03U.S. tariff threats have some premiers looking at trade between provinces -- but it isn't as easy as it sounds

Each province also has its own rules, and differing standards for things like safety gear, vehicle weight and winter tires. There are also regulatory barriers governing products like alcohol.

Justin Fong, co-owner of Quidi Vidi Brewery in St. John's, said getting into the market in other provinces can be challenging because of the way beer is taxed.

"It varies from province to province and which province you are shipping to from which other province," he said.

Furey said alcohol is one example of a product governed by interprovincial trade rules that aren't easy for government to eliminate. Changing the rules governing beer could make it easier for companies to get into the Newfoundland and Labrador market, but at the potential detriment of local brewers.

Conversely, Furey said barriers related to the trucking industry, specifically regarding labour mobility, could be more quickly eliminated

"I think we need to be more surgical, to bite off the ones that we can actually tackle and actually deal with," he said.

AnnMarie Boudreau, CEO of the St. John's Board of Trade, said ironing out the issues with provincial trade could be a silver lining to the threat of U.S. tariffs, which has created uncertainty in the Canadian economy for weeks.

"Finding ourselves in a situation like this should absolutely give us the courage to make some of the tough decisions that we may not have prioritized in the past," she said.

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