Edmonton Chamber of Commerce sees tariff threats as opportunity to streamline interprovincial trade

Doug Griffiths, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce CEO, speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about the looming threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian companies.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: What’s more worrisome from the standpoint of the business community: impact of tariffs in the short-term or consequences that could come long term?

Doug Griffiths: I think it’s a bit of both. The short-term consequences for the business community, especially the ones that ship goods or import supplies as part of the supply chain from the United States, will have immediate tariffs and an immediate impact.

But over the long term, we still have probably four out of five businesses in this city who understand that the tariffs will have long-term consequences for them if it creates a bit of an economic downturn and our dollar drops.

So short term and long term, the consequences are pretty profound, if these tariffs finally go in. I think it could devastate. It’s certainly unsettling to our business community.

MH: We’re at something of a wake-up call moment and suddenly politicians of all stripes and at all levels are now talking about the need to remove interprovincial trade barriers.

To what degree would this bring economic stability when trade with the U.S. is under such threat?

DG: I think it’s a very important initiative to undertake, and it’s unfortunate that we’ve been in this scenario for generations now, where it’s easier to trade with the United States. We’ve taken advantage of that because they are the world’s largest economy. We’ve had a very porous border; it’s been easy to do that as we haven’t really pushed for trade between our own provinces.

But this indicated that a strength (that is) over relied on can become a weakness and leaves us vulnerable. And so we need a long-term solution to make sure that no matter what happens with tariffs, that we are able to help garner more interprovincial trade.

It’s not the solution, but it might be a little bit like the mad cow situation where we had to eat our way out of the problem with beef. We’re going to have to consume our way out internally to keep the economy going (and) these small businesses viable.

MH: Why has it taken the chaos accompanying a Donald Trump trade war to push federal and provincial politicians to suddenly rally around this?

DG: Again, because it’s been so easy to just rely on our trade with the United States and the access to that economy. When it comes to interprovincial trade, the margins are small, and so you focus your time on where you have the big wins, which is with the big economy.

But it’s incredibly important that we don’t lose the sense of urgency and the unity that we have now across Canada, with our provincial leaders and our federal leaders looking to help create a Canadian identity, Canadian free trade. If we let this moment go, if tariffs don’t show up in 29 days, then it’ll be our situation we’ve created. We’ll be responsible for the leaving ourselves prey and vulnerable to another trade war that’s not based in reality or fact.

It’s very fickle and so I think it’s becoming upon ourselves to keep the urgency and focus on interprovincial trade and access to new markets and the infrastructure investments to get all of the provinces to tide water with their goods, so that we can work on that international trade.

MH: What then are the challenges to overcome in removing those barriers? How challenging would it be?

DG: I don’t think it’s actually very challenging. I mean, it’s done in other jurisdictions all around the world. If you look, transportation is streamlined across Alberta. If you’re hauling goods, why it can’t be streamlined between us and Saskatchewan? Saskatchewan and Manitoba and Ontario? And all the way across the country going in both directions?

I think we find excuses for why it doesn’t work. I think we try and protect our turf sometimes, and hold on to our individual identity, but we are not big enough. No province is big enough to stand in isolation.

Canadians, Canadian businesses, the provinces, need to stand together and break down our interprovincial trade barriers. I think the barrier is our approach and attitude, our belief in whether or not it’s possible.

MH: In the interim, with these tariff threats only on pause, what’s your advice to Albertans and the business community? Is it as simple as supporting local retailers? Choosing Alberta and Canadian made goods and services?

DG: There’s a saying that there’s only two times to plant a tree: 20 years ago when you should have, and today. We can’t do anything about 20 years ago, all we can deal with is today.

So incremental steps to reduce interprovincial trade barriers, building the infrastructure in place, which will still take years to get all of our goods and products across this country, to tide water, building those markets and taking advantage of those opportunities with markets and sectors all around the world, and not just relying on our easy trading partners the United States.

It is something we should have started 20 years ago, but we didn’t, so it’s time to start today. It will take time, but it will add resiliency into our economy and allow us to weather the next storm. And there will be a next storm at some point. So we’ve got to start now. We’re not coming up with something in two days that’s going to resolve this. We need a strategy for the next 20 years that adds resiliency and prosperity to our economy over the long-term.

MH: How much of a silver lining moment might all of this end up being?

DG: It’s really hard right now, especially if tariffs come into play, to say to businesses: ‘This is a good thing, because it will help connect Canada evolve, it’ll increase our productivity.'

New innovations reach new markets, new entrepreneurialism, new inventions. Think about the number of products that we import from the United States, not made here in Canada. It’s an entrepreneur’s dream to be able to manufacture, produce them here and supply 40 million Canadians with that. But in the short-term, it is going to be tough. It is going to be challenging as we transition.

So I don’t want to talk too much about how this is a good thing, but over the long term, if we don’t lose sight of the urgency and we work on this hard, it will make Canada exponentially stronger and more resilient and more connected to the rest of the world.