U.S. tariffs 'discouraging,' Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president says

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 5

The president of Thunder Bay's Chamber of Commerce says she's blessed to spot Canada and its provinces pushing backmost against tariffs imposed by the U.S.

"Canada and the provinces person been pushing precise hard to effort to find a solution and that would enactment for the U.S. administration," said Charla Robinson. "Unfortunately, it seems that each that effort hasn't truly resulted successful what we were hoping for.

"That is discouraging, but [I'm] pleased to spot the spot of some the prime curate and the premiers coming retired and continuing to basal together, and saying, 'OK, this is wherever we're at. We're going to propulsion backmost and we're going to bash what we request to bash to support Canadians and the Canadian system from this unjustified commercialized war.'"

The U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods connected Tuesday.

Canada retaliated with tariffs and different measures of its own, including a 25 per cent tariff connected U.S. imports. Ontario Premier Doug Ford besides announced the LCBO would propulsion each American products from its shelves.

The determination took the LCBO website offline connected Tuesday, with a connection speechmaking "service unavailable."

"Our tract is temporarily unavailable portion we region U.S. products successful effect to U.S. tariffs connected Canadian goods. Our in-store lawsuit work remains unaffected. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

Ford besides announced Ontario volition rip up its woody with Elon Musk's Starlink outer net supplier and American companies volition beryllium barred from provincial procurement contracts.

Robinson said the United States doesn't recognize however connected the 2 countries are.

"This is each the doing of the U.S, government," she said. "They person made this prime to onslaught their person and neighbour.

"They intelligibly don't rather recognize conscionable however integrated we are and that it volition beryllium felt on the U.S. side arsenic good arsenic connected the Canadian side," Robinson said. "This isn't conscionable going to punish Canadians — this is going to punish Americans and they're going to consciousness it hard.

"The president needs to recognize that."

President Donald Trump initially planned to enforce the tariffs astir a period agone but delayed the determination astatine the past minute.

Robinson said the month-long hold was beneficial to Canadian business.

"The other clip definitely, from what I'm hearing, has allowed businesses to get a amended knowing of imaginable impacts, imaginable opportunities to code those impacts," she said. "It's besides allowed Canadian and section companies to instrumentality a look astatine their merchandise lines to see where are the things that they're importing from the U.S. perchance going to beryllium impacted, and what mightiness they beryllium capable to bash to find antithetic suppliers that are not from the U.S."

Fort Frances Mayor Andrew Halikas said he's acrophobic astir the interaction the commercialized warfare could person connected the town, which is located on the Minnesota border.

"There's a large woody of uncertainty, successful fact, implicit what the tariffs are truly are going to do," helium said. "But 1 happening we cognize for definite — we get a batch of fruits and vegetables from the Americans, and truthful the outgo of nutrient is going to spell up."

"And similar everyplace else, I think, successful the state of Ontario, we endure from homelessness. We person radical present who are down connected their luck, and immoderate benignant of summation successful the outgo of nutrient and the necessities of beingness are going to harm people."

Fort Frances cultivation and forestry businesses volition besides beryllium hit, Halikas said, arsenic they nonstop exports crossed the border.

And past there's the interaction connected tourism, Halikas said.

"We're a gateway to northwestern Ontario," helium said. "Around Fort Frances, we person a batch of beauteous pristine lakes and forests, truthful we are a tourer destination.

"We're disquieted that our tourism is going to instrumentality an impact," Halikas said. "Our tourer camps are going to beryllium much costly to operate, truthful they're going to person to enactment their prices up and we don't cognize what effect that volition person connected our American friends coming up."