Mayor Urges Unity, Action as Us Tariffs Hit Home in Chatham-Kent

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is Getting Down to Business to Find Ways It Can Fight Back Against Across the Board Tariffs of 25 Per Cent Imposed by Us Donald Trump.

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Mayor Darrin Canniff Said A Special Council Meeting is being held thursday to discuss the municipality can do to the tariffs.

Administration Will Provide Council with Information on the Limited Products the Municipality Buys from the US Directly Along with Items from Canadian Vendors that might be source from the US, he said.

A question that needs to be considering is “as a council, are we will to pay more” to buy only canadian, canniff said.

Fire trucks are a big challenge for the municipality because they are not made in Canada and must be bught from the United States, he Said.

Though the Municipality Can’t Do Much About the Effect Tariffs Will have on various sectors Such as Automotive and Agriculture, “Buying Canadian Becomes so Much More important,” canniff Said.

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“Collectively, we have to come together as a nation.”

A Fine Line Needs to Be Walked to Put The Pressure On So Americans Will Feel The Impact of Tariffs On Their PocketBooks Without Ticking Them Off, Canniff Said.

It doesn’t Matter to Trump What Canada Says Collectively, He Said.

“We need american business and people to be fighting for us, saying, ‘tariffs are bad,’ belcause that’s Howe going to stop them,” canniff said

It has Taken Long for Tariffs to Be Felt in the Local Agriculture Industry.

Jim Brackett, President of the Kent Federation of Agriculture, Said He has Already Heard from Area Pork Producers Facing 25 per cent Tariffs.

A Transport Truck Load of Pigs has an approximate value of $ 40,000 to a producer, he said. Goal at 25 per hundred tariff takes $ 10,000 off the Bottom line, Brackett Said.

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“There is not 25 per central profit level in producing pigs right now,” he said.

Word from the Greenhouse Industry is that 95 per hundred of their crops go across the border to us customers, brackett said.

With Both Pork and Vegetables Being Perishable, It Leaves Producers in A Tight Spot, He Said.

The Longer Pigs Are Kept, the more money it costs to Keep them at weight and in good condition for market, so “you have to ship them and take the loss,” Brackett Said.

Once Greenhouse Vegetables Such As Tomatoes and Green Peppers Mature There is a short shelf life, he said.

With the unpredictability of trump, who previously delayed imposing tariffs, brackett said, “i was hoping that he was blowing smoke.”

Now he just hopes trump will decide to remove the tariffs sooner than later.

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Rory Ring, President and Chief Executive of the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce President, Said Trump Set The Expectation He Would Hold Off On Imposering Tariffs “Because he walks it Forward then he walks it back.

“UNFORTUNATily, (Trump’s) Reasoning is not rational and it’s chaotic,” He Said.

Citing the Impacts The Tariffs Had On Stock Markets The Day Before the Tariffs Were Imposed, Ring Said Business Likes Stability in the Marketplace as well as with police and trade.

“(Trump) has created Absolute Havoc in All of Those Scenarios and that just means that investment and capital is going to park itself until it becomes a more stable environment,” he said.

The Only Way Stability Will Return to the Market Place is if American Businesses and Citizens “put press on the white house and the oval office to change stride,” Ring Said.

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Another Measure That Can Be Taken in Canada is Eliminating Inter-provincial Trade Barriers.

Now that tariffs are here, Brackett Said, “I Hope we all working on fixing Borders Between the provinces.”

Ontario Pork Producers Were Shipping Pigs to Quebec Until that Province Closed Its Borders to Outside Pork Two Years Ago, He Said.

Ring Said the Chamber at a National Level has been advocating for more than a decade to have inter-professional trade barriers removed.

“If we have a global trading nation, we should be able trade within our country.”

Removing Inter-Provincial Trade Barriers Could Unleash $ 200 Billion in Economic Activity, Ring Said.

Canniff sees the tariffs as being a “wake-up call for our country.

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“We’ve Become Too connecting on the United States It’s Become Too Easy to Trade with them.”

Canada Needs to Do the Extra Work Including Building Pipelines to Expand Exports of Oil Abroad and Within Canada As Well As Expand Agricultural Markets Nationally and Abroad, Canniff Said.

“In the long term, it’s forcing us to become more independent, but in the interim it’s going to be very painful,” canniff said.

Although Tariffs Leave the Local Economy Exposed in Especially in Such sectors as Automotive and Agricultural, Ring Said, “We’re Strong, We’re Resilient, We’re Canadians.”

He echoes the message of “Elbows up,” to fight tariffs, a hockey term recently stated by canadian movie star mike myrs during an appearance on saturday night live

“That’s What It’s Going to Take,” Ring Said. “When Somebody Declares Economic War On Your Country, You Gotta Dig in And You Gotta Dig Deep.”

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