Premier David Eby has announced several immediate counter-measures BC will be taking to combat the United States’ 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, with 10% levies on Canadian energy.
Initially, the tariffs were to be implemented on Saturday, February 1st, but over the weekend they were pushed back by President Donald Trump to Tuesday, February 4th.
As of Monday afternoon, the tariffs have been pushed back yet again.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed he had a productive call with President Trump, in which the two leaders agreed to push back the tariffs by 30 days and agreed to several border protection initiatives.
As the country still braces for pending tariffs though, the measures put in place by Eby remain active.
“President Trump’s 25% tariffs are a complete betrayal of the historic bond between our countries and a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally,” said Premier Eby.
“As British Columbians, and as Canadians, we will stand strong and united in the face of this unprecedented attack.”
The following are what Eby has announced as BC’s “first step” to respond to the looming tariffs.
- Directing the BC Liquor Distribution Branch to immediately stop buying American liquor from “red states”, and remove the top-selling “red-state” brands from the shelves of public liquor stores
- Directing the BC government and Crown corporations to buy Canadian goods and services first
Additionally, here in BC, the Province says they will be assessing and approving private-sector projects worth $20 billion as fast as possible, as well as issuing these project’s permits faster.
The Province has also agreed to support the federal government in all actions being taken to combat the tariffs which includes the counter 25% tariff Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced over the weekend.
Premier Eby added that more combative measures are being considered and could be introduced in the coming days and weeks.
“We won’t back down or be bullied into becoming another state,” said Premier Eby.
“Our province is unified and resolute. We’ll never stop standing up for BC and Canada.”
In late January, the BC government revealed the implications of the tariffs to the BC Economy.
This analysis showed that the Province could see a cumulative loss of $69 billion in economic activity between 2025 and 2028.
Additionally, there could be a loss of more than 120,000 jobs due to the tariffs.
Americans will also be hurt by the trade war initiated by President Trump with Canadian mineral exports alone expected to cost American companies over US$11 billion.
A new cabinet committee “war room” has also been established to coordinate BC’s response to the US tariffs.
They will be taking a three-point approach to combatting the tariffs by responding with tough counter-actions, handling outreach to American decision-makers regarding the tariffs, expediting BC projects to support industry and workers in the province and diversifying trade markets for products so British Columbia is less reliant on the United States.
The Province says that around 54% of BC’s exports in 2023 were sent to the United States. Of those exports, approximately 67% were resource or energy-based.
The top five states for BC’s exports were Washington ($9.8 billion), California ($3.2 billion), Illinois ($2.1 billion), Texas ($1.5 billion) and Oregon ($1.3 billion).
