Robert Hanlon, TRU Associate Professor (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

ELECTION PROMISE

‘We are going to feel an impact’; Canada braces for promised tariffs after Trump win

Nov 6, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Canadian economy is directly tied to our southern neighbours and with some economists predicting a possible recession under President Donald Trump if he follows through with mass deportations affecting the labour force and wide reaching tariffs, Canada would feel the impact.

“I think not only Canada but every nation that trades with the United States is going to be subject to these tariffs and it will add quite a bit of costs and should be quite concerning to Canadians and small- to medium-sized enterprises,” Robert Hanlon, associate professor of political science at Thompson Rivers University, told CFJC Today Wednesday (Nov. 6). “Seventy-two per cent of our exports go to the United States. We are talking about $340 billion in goods, and so when you put 10 per cent on that, it’s going to be certainly something we are going to feel an impact on.”

The message to Canadian lawmakers is the need to stick together as a unified front.

“Certainly, finding ways to protect ourselves, not just in the trade domain but also just everything from justice to wars to immigration,” said Hanlon. “And just even things about how he may respond to our commitments in NATO as well as Ukraine. There are a lot of things on the table that I probably imagine policy makers are talking carefully about today.”

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It’s yet to be seen how Trump and his relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin could affect the ongoing war effort in Ukraine, after the Biden administration provided billions of dollars in support.

“What’s most important is we need always bipartisan support,” said Oleksandr Kondrashov, organizer of Kamloops’ Stand with Ukraine group. “It’s very critical that no matter who is in power, Democrats or Republicans, that democracy is in danger when Ukraine is in danger. Because, unfortunately, Russia will not stop at Ukraine. It will continue going further and this will affect people in Europe, it will affect people around the world.”

The full scale invasion of Ukraine began while Joe Biden was president of the United States, but the war itself has been running since 2014, including the entirety of Trump’s first term, giving hope to Ukrainians in Kamloops.

“What we noticed… so far we never had adequate support. Even with the Biden administration, the idea of land lease never happened. We need to keep pushing that support words and support action needs to be actually focused on action support,” added Kondrashov.

With Canada’s own election less than a year away, there will be lessons learned for all parties from Trump’s win.

“Voters are feeling a lot of economic pain and are looking for actual substance and actual pragmatic plans. And when they are hearing things — as Trump famously said, ‘Is your life better today than it was four years ago?’ that’s a hard question. If you asked the same question in Canada, you are probably going to get a similar answer,” said Hanlon.

President-elect Trump will be sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.