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By Brady Ratzlaff

Canadians would be hit hardest if auto sector is tariffed by the U.S.

Jul 16, 2018 | 11:02 AM

With the recent tariffs being put on a lengthy list of items in Canada and the U.S., Canadians are having to dig deeper into their pockets.

Charles Backman, Chair of Business and Office Administration at Grande Prairie Regional College suggests while the tariffs aren’t hitting everyday consumers hard to this point that could change, especially in the auto-sector.

“That could have a huge impact on Canada for the consumer. You could see the price of cars increasing something like $8,000 or $9,000 just because of the imposed tariffs. You would also see a decline in employment at least on the Canadian side particularly.”

Backman adds if tariffs were to be imposed, it would result in fewer cars being manufactured and high unemployment in both Canada and the U.S., at least in the short term.

On top of steel and aluminum being slapped with added cross-border fees, everyday items such as yogurt, ketchup, and coffee are also on the list of items that are being tariffed.

Everyday consumers shouldn’t be hit too hard in the wallet because of the tariffs.

“The thing that you have with produce or other groceries is the same sort of thing, folks will make adjustments in their purchasing habits in terms of what they buy and what they don’t buy,” said Backman.

It’s a toss-up as to whether a tariff would get placed on the auto industry. That decision solely rests on the shoulders of the American President.

“It all depends what the end game is that [Donald] Trump and the people there have for the relationship between Canada and the United States and also to the extent to which Canada wants to agree to some of the U.S. [trade] conditions,” added Backman.

Backman adds he doesn’t foresee the tariffs being in place for long as both countries have more in common than differences and at some point, both countries will come to a trade agreement.

by Brady Ratzlaff