In the midst of a trade war with both the United States and China, Saskatchewan’s premier says the federal government needs to get its priorities straight.
Scott Moe spoke this morning following a tariff-focused Saskatchewan Business Roundtable, where he discussed the impending threat of numerous levies with industry representatives.
Moe congratulated Mark Carney on winning the Liberal Leadership race, however, he says Carney needs to act quickly to avert China’s detrimental tariffs on canola oil and meal.
“I noticed, this morning already, that his first planned international visit is to the European Union. Not good. Not good. We don’t have a trade war with the European Union today.”
The premier adds that China’s tariffs must be addressed and resolved prior to an election being called, even though he believes Canada desperately needs one.
“There needs to be action by our federal government, before any election call, to engage with China to ensure the canola industry is not left in purgatory during the time that we might find ourselves in an election.”
Although Saskatchewan faces significant job loss in the canola crushing industry, Moe says this isn’t the biggest threat we currently face.
“More impactful than a temporary loss of jobs in the canola crushing industry, is the markets that we are losing…They were incredibly hard to build in the first place, and they are going to be incredibly hard to regain. So, I don’t know that those jobs will immediately come back.”
He explains that this is why he calls on the federal government to urgently and immediately engage with the Chinese government to avert such a crisis.
The provincial government is also weighing its options to support the steel and aluminum industry following 25 per cent tariffs on the metals from the United States.
“We’re in active discussions with the steel industry on how we can keep people employed in that industry during what is a very tumultuous time, and a time where certainty just isn’t an opportunity that we have.”
He alluded to relying on the strength of Saskatchewan’s economy to support the industry, but did not lay out an exact plan. Neither he or Trade and Export Minister Warren Kaeding were aware of any job loss in the steel industry as of yet.