LAKELAND – Many businesses in Canada are closely monitoring the impacts of potential U.S. tariffs, including Lakeland-based retailers.
“We recognize there's going to be some broad industry impacts across [Cornerstone Co-op's] multiple different business lines,” including food and liquid store products, Kory Kralkay, CEO of Cornerstone Co-op, told Lakeland This Week.
He said Cornerstone is working with Federated Co-operatives Limited, the supplier for Co-ops in Canada, to evaluate alternatives and explore solutions.
One key focus, he said, is promoting its wide selection of Canadian-made and locally sourced products.
“As a co-op, we're very proud of how many products that we carry that are not just Canadian-made, but also Alberta-made and hyper locally sourced,” said Kralkay. “Hyper local to us, means products sourced within or processed within 200 kilometres of our Cornerstone trading area.”
The Co-op also processes its own petroleum and crude oil products in a refinery in Saskatchewan, according to Kralkay. “So, there's nobody really more locally owned and operated in the petroleum energy sector . . . more than the local co-ops.”
Couette & Sons Implements
Caouette & Sons is an agriculture equipment dealer based in St. Paul. Yvon Caouette, owner of the business, said he is waiting to see what happens after the tariff pause, which is in place for 30 days.
“It’s just a bunch of uncertainty for us, right now,” he said. “It’s business as usual until further notice.”
Caouette also expressed concern with the fluctuating exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. dollar, making equipment imported from the U.S. more expensive. “It went back up quite a bit,” he said, adding, it is hard to predict what will happen in the future.
Ultimately, Caouette hopes the Trump administration will not implement the tariffs.
“It’s not going to help anybody, not even his own people.”
Business Council of Alberta
Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta, commended Canada’s premiers, the business community, as well as the federal government for “last-minute” efforts to negotiate with the president, leading to the 30-day pause.
Now, Canada must ensure free trade with the U.S. remains a priority by focusing on diplomacy and addressing concerns by the Trump administration, including concerns around Canada’s border and stopping the flow of illicit drugs, Legge told Lakeland This Week.
Despite the reprieve, Legge said Canada is still under threat of U.S. tariffs, and immediate action is necessary to bring back the confidence of the Trump administration.
“This is about Canada pulling its weight in the issues that the world is facing,” he said, suggesting the tariffs are just tools by Trump to push Canada to act.
While the White House’s official explanation of imposing tariffs on Canadian products do not involve insufficient purchase of U.S. products by Canada, Trump also previously spoke about trade imbalances between the U.S. and Canada.
Legge believes otherwise. “We were good trading partners, to be honest, despite the fact that President [Trump] seems to think we’re penalizing them and not buying enough American products,” he said, explaining the oil and gas industry was what created trade surplus for Canada. “When you remove that, it’s actually a trade deficit for [Canada]."
Unless immediate action is taken to address the Trump administration’s range of concerns “Canada is doomed,” he said.
Legge said U.S. tariffs could be devastating to the Canadian economy.
“We will never get our products to other markets like Asia or South America. We will never realize the prosperity and the incomes for Albertans that we could have because we decided to not take action.”
Lakeland This Week also reached out to Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs, Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP Laila Goodridge, Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche MLA and Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean, and Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA Scott Cyr for comments on Trump’s potential tariffs to Canada.
No responses were received as of Lakeland This Week’s press deadline.
