Now that American President-Elect Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on anything coming into the US from both Mexico and Canada, Provincial Agriculture Critic Jeff Bereza shares his thoughts. Bereza notes that the premier recently stated the situation could likely lead to a recession.
Economic Impact on Agriculture
"Just to give you an idea of how big our AG sector is, especially because we have lots of livestock that cross the border, it really affects the hog and cattle industry. The economic impact of the livestock industry alone is about $6.3 billion. It creates over 22,000 jobs in Manitoba. When it comes to our hog plants here in Manitoba, a lot of that product is going across to the US. If you put a 25 percent tariff on it, it becomes not only unaffordable for US citizens, but it also opens the door for other countries besides Canada or Mexico to export into the US."
Local Industries at Risk
Bereza highlights the potential impact on the local potato industry, with large factories and processing facilities in Portage la Prairie and Carberry.
"That could affect a lot of working people there. The French fries produced in these plants are going down into the fast-food market in the US. Being a homegrown product from the US, it could severely impact that. It's unfortunate that we knew there was a chance that President-Elect Trump or Kamala Harris—one of them—was going to be president, and the province and Canada weren't looking at this beforehand or thinking about this beforehand and meeting more with our US counterparts."
Upcoming Meeting in Des Moines
Bereza says he will be attending a meeting in Des Moines, IA, in early January with US governors and senators to discuss how this can impact Manitoba.
"I know our workers here in Manitoba take much pride in sending a great product down to the US. It's important that we keep those lines of communication open with our US counterparts. Going back to the provincial Throne Speech, there just wasn't much mentioned in there for agriculture. So, I can't speculate on any more than that."
Provincial Representation
He adds that it's good to have a strong contingency of provincial representation for agricultural products that are being shipped across the border at the Des Moines meeting.