B.C. Premier David Eby said he will be heading to Washington D.C. with other Canadian premiers, not for president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but with a focus on the continued threat of tariffs on Canadian-made goods.
Trump continues to say he will impose a 25 per cent tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Canada and Mexico.
“I’ll be joining with the premiers from across Canada and heading to Washington, D.C. to make our case to decision makers in the United States that the proposed tariffs from the president elect will mean a significant increase in prices for Americans around things like homes,” Eby said.
“Especially with the additional tariffs proposed on lumber, for example, around things like energy, electricity that we export from British Columbia that helps light up the west coast of the United States will get significantly more expensive, passing on additional costs to both residential and commercial customers, and that Canada, including British Columbia, provides things the United States can’t get anywhere else.”
Eby said the Teck smelter in Trail provides a critical mineral that is required for things like night vision goggles and other electronic devices that China recently stopped exporting to the United States.
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“If you don’t get it from Trail and you don’t get it from China, you don’t get it,” Eby said.
“And so the reality is we are very closely tied and we prosper by working together. And so delivering that message is very key.”
On Tuesday, Trump held a press conference in Florida and said he is open to using economic force to acquire Canada as a state.
“Canadians are proud. I’m proud to be Canadian. We are not becoming the 51st state. And I think that one of the recognitions of both Canadians and Americans is that we are different places. We have different priorities and yet we’re good neighbours and friends and in many cases family and that there’s no benefit that comes from hurting both sides of the border.”
