'It's not going to be pretty': Tariffs will have 'devastating' effect, trucking official says

Mia Urquhart · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 4:44 PM EST | Last Updated: March 5

It's going to instrumentality a portion earlier the effects of the tariff warfare trickle down, but erstwhile they do, "it's not going to beryllium pretty," says Chris McKee. 

The enforcement manager of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association says tariffs "will person devastating effects connected our manufacture — an manufacture that's already suffering from 1 of the worst freight economies that we've seen successful astir 40 years."

McKee called it a "perfect storm" of tariffs connected apical of a North American freight recession and depressed rates.

He said customers began cancelling orders successful the weeks starring up to the commencement of tariffs, truthful helium expects it to get "exponentially worse successful the coming weeks." He said that driblet successful concern varied betwixt 20 and 80 per cent. 

"We expect those flatbed haulers — the folks hauling softwood lumber — and the refrigerated carriers who would beryllium hauling chiefly seafood and produce, they could beryllium impacted the worst here." 

In the look of an uncertain future, helium said astir companies are suspending superior spending plans, fleet upgrades and caller instrumentality purchases "until we truly get a bully thought of however these tariffs are going to interaction our fleets and our businesses."

According to caller data, the 4 Atlantic provinces export astir $26 cardinal worthy of commercialized to the U.S. each year. 

About 92 per cent of New Brunswick exports are sent to the U.S.

"Trucking touches conscionable astir each 1 of those sectors," said McKee.

He said trucks determination 70 to 75 per cent of those goods crossed the borderline and reductions successful those shipments could effect successful occupation losses. 

In Canada, the trucking manufacture employs 300,000 drivers, McKee said.

"In Atlantic Canada, 25,000 radical are straight employed by our industry, with astir 11,000 of those being drivers."

Calling connected government

The trucking relation is asking the authorities to "immediately region the c tax, particularly connected the eve of different slated summation connected April 1. The removal of the taxation specifically would prevention a trucking institution betwixt $15,000 and $20,000 per truck, per year," said McKee. 

"We're besides calling connected the national authorities to region oregon trim the national excise taxation connected diesel." 

McKee said they'd besides similar to spot alleviation packages oregon programs for truckers affected by the tariff war. 

"We besides request semipermanent readying to amended productivity and ratio successful our manufacture and successful this country."

McKee said governments should region the interprovincial commercialized barriers that impact the industry. He said truckers person already provided "a blueprint to assistance marque our lives easier moving freight interjurisdictionally wrong this country." 

He said authorities has created a aviator programme from the blueprint, "so that's precise encouraging to us."

'I'm benignant of nervous'

Truck operator Clayton Blake was retired delivering earthy state to concern customers successful New Brunswick connected Wednesday. He said he's waiting to spot "how things shingle out." 

While helium doesn't deliberation his occupation successful the vigor assemblage is astatine risk, he's not definite of thing close now. 

"It's a small nerve-racking, I think, due to the fact that we don't cognize wherever the full fallout is going to extremity up." 

While helium believes his occupation is safe, arsenic a nonmigratory of Maine, helium worries astir the fallout from the tariff war, particularly since truthful galore residents similar him get their energy from New Brunswick. 

"I don't cognize however each that's going to shingle out," said Blake.