Moe says cost of living will go up for everyone, as Saskatchewan responds to trade war

When it comes to alcohol, identified by the Americans as a trade irritant, Moe said Saskatchewan will not ban U.S. alcohol, but believes residents have spoken.

“American alcohol sales in our province are down 40 per cent and I think that actually sends a much stronger message than any government-ordered ban that could be put in place.”

At the same time, the sale of Saskatchewan-made products has increased.

Government procurement since U.S. tariffs started last year has gone to Saskatchewan companies 94 per cent of the time and to Canadian companies 99 per cent of the time.

Moe said putting an export tax on natural resources will have the sole effect of driving away investment and costing Canadian jobs.

“Any flawed policy in the way of export tariffs is going to drastically increase that cost of gasoline, largely for those that are living in eastern Canada and so, my point is let’s not make the same mistake twice.”

The impact would be less, according to Moe, if it wasn’t for what he called flawed policy decisions that were made as a country, such as not building Energy East.

Because of the failure of Energy East, 20 to 50 per cent of the gas that flows into Ontario and is produced in western Canada first goes through the U.S., he said.

“We have not been paying attention to how do we create true economic and energy security across this nation and across the continent.”

The counter-tariffs introduced by Prime Minister Carney two days ago will impact about 11 per cent of the goods Saskatchewan imports from the U.S., which equal $1.6 billion. That could escalate as the U.S. has promised to counter the counter-tariffs with more tariffs.

CUSMA is still an active agreement between Canada, Mexico and the U.S., but has been ignored to some extent by the tariffs imposed by the Americans. It was up to be reviewed this year.

The solution for everyone is to continue the renegotiation, Moe said.

“It is deeply concerning for us as governments, and I would say even more concerning for us as individuals and families across this nation. Let’s remember that it was not Canada that got us into the situation that we now face and I believe that the Canadian government has been negotiating in good faith on behalf of all provinces, including this province of Saskatchewan, and on behalf of all Canadians more broadly.”

Moe said the Canadian restrictions the Americans tried to impose at the last minute were not something Canada could accept.

“The US team wanted to impose restrictions on something that is completely within the Canadian purview and jurisdiction, and that was encroaching on our international trade agreements. And this is totally unacceptable,” he said.

Provincial representatives will be working closely with impacted businesses to see the extent of the tariff impact from both ends.

Moe said he is supportive of the counter-tariffs introduced so far, but only as a method to get the Americans to change their stance.

“I want to be clear, as a government of Saskatchewan, we are supportive of these very targeted countermeasures that are in place, but only when those tariffs are focused and targeted to have a minimal impact on Canadian industries and families and a larger impact on our trading partner that we want to bring back to the table.”

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Moe says cost of living will go up for everyone, as Saskatchewan responds to trade war

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