More than a year after the American president hit us hard with hefty tariffs, the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement, otherwise known as CUSMA, is currently being reviewed. And given the ongoing tensions between the countries, some industries in B.C. are worried about the future.
Speaking to 1130 NewsRadio from Victoria, Andrew Wynn-Williams, divisional vice-president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, doesn’t expect any certainty moving forward.
He explains there have always been three potential options, the first being the agreement is extended for another 16 years, likely with some minor tweaks. The second option is what he calls a Zombie CUSMA, which means it’s reviewed annually. The third would be if the U.S. walks away for good.
On Canada Day, the U.S. confirmed it would not be renewing the long-standing agreement in its current form, which means the trade agreement stays in place as talks continue.
Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared untroubled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim the United States would “do better without” the pact.
“It’s no secret the president in recent years has not been the biggest fan of CUSMA or other trade deals,” Carney told reporters at a news conference in Vancouver last month.
All of that leaves Wynn-Williams on edge.
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“Eighty per cent of our trade, from a Canadian perspective, still goes across the border into the U.S. But from a B.C. perspective, it’s about 60 per cent, and just under 90 per cent of that trade we send to the U.S., is CUSMA-compliant,” he said.
“In other words, it’s a huge chunk of our international trade and a huge chunk of our GDP. From the U.S. perspective, it’s a much smaller part of their economy — trade with Canada — so it’s less important to them.”
He’s happy provincial and federal leaders have increased the diversification of trade.
“That helps, diversifying trade both overseas and reducing trade barriers in Canada, but the reality is so much of what we ship is not really feasible in terms of diversification for a variety of reasons,” he said.
“It could just be too big and heavy to be shipped a very far distance. It could be part of an integrated supply chain with a major U.S. equipment manufacturer. And yes, we should be more diversified, but that’s not going to address a lot of our challenges.”
This comes as industries have been hit hardest by U.S.-imposed tariffs on this side of the border, including forestry, steel, aluminum, and agriculture.
Wynn-Williams is worried should the U.S. walk away from CUSMA for good, it will allow that country to hit us with more tariffs whenever it wants and on whatever it wants.
“It will create great uncertainty because from one month to the next, there will be no rules around, ‘Yeah, we’re going to have this tariff now, because we think you’re making too much money off X goods.’”
He’s confident the federal government will get a deal that’s good for Canada but admits it’s hard given one of the leaders Ottawa is currently dealing with.
“The challenge is there’s not a lot of listening… on the other side.”
Wynn-Williams says the amount of stress on the frontlines of industry in this province, and frankly, country, since Trump took office, has been beyond difficult.
“Anxiety, frustration, a little bit of anger, and there’s also an element of annoyance with our own governments, not so much on the trade front, but on all the layered costs that our governments — right from municipal level up to federal level — have created on industry for the past 15 or 20 years,” he explains, alluding to the amount of red tape some industries face in B.C.
He points out between tariffs and CUSMA, it’s led to a divide in the ‘business investment climate,’ which hurts B.C.’s bottom line at a time provincial coffers are deep in the red.
Carney is not the only one who has taken a jab at Trump throughout this process. Last month, B.C. Premier David Eby called Trump’s comments on not renewing CUSMA “lame.”
— With files from The Canadian Press