Uncertainty reigns as Sask. farmers, business leaders react to latest Trump tariffs

Chris Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 10:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Saskatchewan farmers, concern leaders and commercialized experts offered a hesitant suspiration of alleviation connected Wednesday, aft Canada emerged mostly unscathed from Donald Trump's heavy anticipated tariff announcement.

The U.S. president announced helium volition enforce a baseline 10 per cent tariff connected dozens of countries astir the satellite arsenic of Thursday, but will exempt items nether the Canada-United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, oregon CUSMA.

There were fears that exemption would expire connected April 2, which would person further upended Canada's commercialized narration with the U.S. aft months of on-again off-again tariffs.

Instead, Canada's tariff concern with the U.S. remains astir unchanged from April 1, with the objection of a caller 25 per cent tariff connected automobiles.

A 25 per cent U.S. tariff connected alloy and aluminum products launched connected March 12 besides remains successful force.

"I would accidental it's a pyrrhic victory," said Simon Enoch, who studies Saskatchewan for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "I deliberation immoderate Canadians volition deliberation that we escaped … but nevertheless, the 25 per cent tariff to our car manufacture is going to bash a batch of damage." 

In summation to reduced cross-border commercialized for car parts, Enoch estimates that the terms of a car successful Saskatchewan volition apt leap by $1,000 to $8,000.

Growing uncertainty

Chris Procyk, the vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said that portion the deficiency of caller tariffs was welcome, the continued uncertainty the commercialized warfare is causing is inactive making beingness hard for Saskatchewan farmers.

More than fractional of Saskatchewan's exports spell to the U.S., including a 3rd of its cultivation exports.

"We've ever had benignant of a harmless abstraction with the U.S. arsenic a trading partner," Procyk said.

"And now this is each getting tossed up successful the air, due to the fact that there's companies and farmers connected some sides of the borderline going, 'What the heck, we don't cognize wherever things are going 1 time to the next.'"

Procyk says helium knows a husbandman who's tied up a 3rd of their retention abstraction for wheat that would usually spell to the U.S., but is disquieted that tariffs whitethorn inactive come.

"It's not adjacent the tariffs anymore that's truly doing the damage. It's the menace … that's compounding and has the marketplace rattled," helium said.

That sentiment was echoed by Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck, who repeated her calls for the state to absorption much connected interprovincial commercialized and put successful east-west pipelines.

"We cannot find ourselves successful this concern clip and clip again, wherever we are glued to our televisions, allowing the president of the United States to dictate truthful much," the Opposition leader said.

Continued anxiousness among Canadian businesses

Saskatchewan concern owners are besides being harmed by the uncertainty, said Brianna Solberg, the provincial manager with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses representing Saskatchewan.

"Four retired of 5 businesses person already reported being impacted by this commercialized war," she said, and cite rising costs and little demand.

"They don't cognize whether they'll beryllium capable to rise their prices, and if customers volition inactive beryllium consenting to pay."

Even with the CUSMA exemption, Solberg said, the tariff menace is inactive there, and made worse by Canada's reciprocal tariffs, which are inactive successful place.

"Many businesses are shifting wherever they tin to root their goods locally if possible, but that's not ever feasible," she said. It whitethorn instrumentality months, if not years, for markets to dependable successful effect to the tariffs, she said.

According to the Associated Press, astir 60 per cent of Canadian exports to the U.S. bash not autumn nether CUSMA, and would look the 10 per cent tariff. 

"We've been astatine this opus and creation for 2 months now," said Keith Willoughby, who runs the Edwards School of Business astatine the University of Saskatchewan. "I consciousness similar possibly the conflict was won, but the warfare is inactive raging."

Willoughby shared Solberg's frustrations with the uncertain environment, and says that portion Saskatchewan is little susceptible to American tariffs than provinces similar Alberta and Ontario, its system is inactive fragile aft weathering COVID-19, proviso concatenation challenges and grounds precocious inflation. If much tariffs are launched, helium said, they would apt commencement a recession. 

"I deliberation Saskatchewan, and this country, we request to research retaliatory measures."

The Canadian authorities presently has retaliatory tariffs connected $30 cardinal of regular American imports, and further tariffs connected $28.9 cardinal successful effect to alloy and aluminum tariffs.