The head of Waterloo region’s economic development is tempering concerns tariffs proposed by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will have a major impact on this community.
Tony LaMantia is president and CEO of Waterloo Economic Development Corporation, which helps businesses locate, relocate or expand in the region. He says when news came out late Monday about Trump threatening to add 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, he laughed.
“I did that because it’s typical Trump disruption, right?” LaMantia told CBC K-W’s The Morning Edition host Craig Norris on Wednesday.
“I think he just wanted to remind the world that he’s the boss and he’s large and in charge and, you know, you kind of soak it in and move on, right?” he added.
“I think it’s best to take Trump’s bombastic social media post with a grain of salt because anybody who understands how integrated the supply chains [are] will know that cars and gasoline and produce and lumber — all of these things become a lot more expensive for Americans. Remember the importers pay the tariffs, right?”
LaMantia says Canadian and U.S. economics are so integrated, this kind of tariff wouldn’t make sense.
He pointed out with the automotive sector and noted how parts will cross the border from Canada to the U.S. and Mexico to the U.S. multiple times before a vehicle is completed.
LISTEN | CEO of Waterloo Economic Development Corp. reacts to Trump tariff threat:
An announcement late Monday night by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that he plans to slap a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods has many concerned about what it could mean. Waterloo Economic Development Corporation president and CEO Tony LaMantia shares his thoughts on the news.
He’s not the only one who thinks the threat is a bluff by Trump. Charles St-Arnaud is the chief economist at Alberta Central, a trade association for the province’s credit unions. He told CBC News he saw the tariff proposal as “mostly posturing” from the Trump administration ahead of an impending free trade agreement renegotiation.
Rafi Tahmazian, a director and senior portfolio manager with Canoe Financial in Calgary and a former energy manager, told CBC News Trump is using the tactics of a business person, and not necessarily those of a politician.
“Politicians tend to speak with intention and purpose. A businessperson is going to speak with the idea of using it as strategy for the ultimate manoeuvre,” Tahmazian said. “That makes it more difficult to predict what is coming and in what form.”
Premiers, prime minister to meet Wednesday
Trump posted to social media on Monday night that he planned to slap a 25 per cent tariff on all goods from Canada and the U.S. until the two countries worked to stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the borders.
The announcement saw swift reaction from Canadian officials. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday the threat of tariffs was “like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.”
Ford stressed there is a lot of trade between the province and the U.S. and they’re better as allies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with premiers Wednesday night to discuss next steps.
WATCH | Canada scrambles to respond to Trump’s 25% tariff threat:
The Trudeau government and Canadian premiers are scrambling to present a unified response after Donald Trump vowed to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico crossing into the U.S. border.
LaMantia says he’s hopeful that, similar to Trump’s previous term in office from 2016 to 2020, “we’ll eventually get to a negotiating playing field and the world’s not going to end.”
He said he hopes after the prime minister and premiers meet Wednesday, that there’s a similar “Team Canada” approach to handling trade talks with the U.S. just like there was last time when a deal was reached in 2019.
“Ontario worked very well along with other premiers around the trade table and I think that’ll be replicated,” LaMantia said.