Trump tariffs will bring costs up, hurt N.L. consumers, says business prof

With U.S. President Donald Trump moving forward with tariffs on Canadian goods, a business leader in Newfoundland and Labrador says they add uncertainty to an already problematic time.

Paul Grant, vice-president of Beothic Fish Processors in Valleyfield, N.L. and board chair of the Association of Seafood Producers, says there's pressure on both producers and harvesters — especially as the two sides aim to reach a collective agreement before the snow crab season.

"We can't move forward and have a collective agreement assuming there's not going to be any tariffs. And we certainly don't want to produce with no tariffs and sell with tariffs," Grant told CBC News Friday.

"We don't have a solution right now. So there's a lot of pressure on both sides to figure out a way through this."

Grant says he believes about 75 to 80 per cent of the product at his plant goes to the United States — and that the 25 per cent tariff would be felt in every industry.

"On a load of crab sections, [a tariff means] probably $75,000 extra. On a load of lobster meat — and when I say a load I mean container load — perhaps $350,000 extra. So somebody has to pay that, and it's not just as simple as passing it onto the consumer," he said.

"Maybe the consumer has to pay a little bit more. We will certainly have to be part of it, and harvesters will have to be part of it."

Disruption tactic

Tom Cooper, a business professor at Memorial University, says the U.S. president thrives under uncertainty.

On top of exporting, Cooper says business owners will also likely see increased importing costs through retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products entering Canada.

"Trump is the great disrupter. This is strategy for him, this is a negotiation strategy," Cooper told CBC News Monday — before the tariffs were official.

"Trump's negotiating approach is that if he creates a lot of uncertainty.… He thinks it's good for him."

And while there's still uncertainty on how the tariffs will be felt in Newfoundland and Labrador, there's no doubt they will have an impact, he says.

"I think that costs are going to go up," said Cooper.

"If our products go up even 10, 15 per cent, we're going to notice that. And that's going to be a challenge, especially for people on fixed income, seniors."

However, he's also optimistic the impacts will be limited because of the planning that was able to happen in the time between the threat from Trump and the implementation of tariffs.

"The impact of this, it's not going to be catastrophic because I think we've built up a lot of resiliencies as a country," he said. "But it's going to hurt."

Contingency plan

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Finance Minister Siobhan Coady said the province is continuing preparations for the 2025-26 budget with tariffs in mind.

Coady said a standard three-month interim supply bill will enter the House of Assembly this week while the budget is being prepared, but the province is still exploring how tariffs could fit into the picture.

"You can always prepare for challenges that you seek, you know, by looking at placing money in contingency, for example," Coady said Monday. "We don't know what the impact of these tariffs are, so you could put extra money in contingency to allow you the flexibility and the quickness of which you can respond."

Nova Scotia placed $200 million in contingency in its budget to deal with a response to the tariffs, while other provinces, like Alberta, included different scenarios based on the impact.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.