Premier David Eby says the province is prepared as newly-imposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports hang over the release of his government’s budget.
Effective immediately, Eby says, the province will pull “all red state liquor products off of the shelf” as a deliberate, and targeted message to politicians who back U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.
Speaking to media in Victoria, Eby says the budget will reflect his earlier announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs, targeted tariffs, and specific embargos on the U.S.
“We didn’t ask for this fight that the president has brought to Canada and to British Columbia. But I’ll tell you this, we’re not going to shrink from this,” said Eby.
On Friday, he said the B.C. government is “doing (its) best to diversify away from the United States in order to protect B.C. businesses and consumers from whatever is happening down south.”
Speaking Tuesday, he restated that sentiment, now adding that “all bets are off” when it comes to upholding U.S. trade agreements.
“For everything that the government buys, whether it’s Crown Corporation, health authorities, [or] core government, we’ll be buying Canadian first, and we’ll be prioritizing B.C. products. This is something that we can’t do ordinarily,” he explained.
Eby also says the province will ensure that the affected industries will receive supports and the province will help industries pivot to global and domestic markets in response to the threat.
“As a province, will fill in the blanks wherever there’s an area of concern that we have that isn’t being addressed by the federal government. We’ll make sure that we’re there,” the premier promised.
Last week, Eby said the provinces and territories “need to start acting like a country” on trade and he’s willing to enter bilateral agreements with other jurisdictions if the federal government can’t get an agreement.
Eby says his government could enter a “coalition of the willing” with other provinces to recognize each others regimes for trade and professions, and if a product is good enough to be sold in one area, then it’s good enough for B.C.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office says he directed the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) Tuesday morning to stop selling American alcohol.
Ford said Monday the LCBO buys about $1-billion worth of U.S. alcohol every year.
The BC NDP is expected to deliver its annual budget Tuesday morning, for which the details will be released to the public at 1:30 p.m.
source: CityNews photo:Government of BC
