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VANCOUVER — British Columbia is pausing its response to threatened tariffs by the United States after a 30-day reprieve was negotiated, but Premier David Eby says they’ll keep planning to shift the provincial trade relationship away from America.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the trade dispute was on hold for a month, and Eby said they would use every minute to ensure businesses can diversify and trade barriers between provinces are brought down.
“It’s not enough time,” Eby said.
“We understand now very clearly from the president his intentions, which is to make Canada the 51st state, and we know that our best defence against that is a strong economy where we can stand on our own two feet here in Canada and British Columbia.”
Alcohol made in U.S. Republican states will be going back on the shelves of government-run liquor stores, but that doesn’t mean the province will abandon its response, Eby said, and the province will be prepared for a possible social media post from Trump saying the tariffs are back on.
The premier said even as the tariffs are paused, harm has already been done to the Canadian economy and to the relationship between the two countries.
“How do you possibly make a decision about hiring new people, or about expansion or about, you know, what you’re going to do when you don’t know if 29 days from now, when your major customer base is going to be putting a 25 per cent tariff on you,” Eby said.
If the tariffs come into effect next month, it would be just days after the provincial budget it released, which Eby said made it very difficult to plan, especially because economic growth and the jobs would be affected by the tariffs.
“It’s very possible that we could release a budget that is based on a set of assumptions that a few days later are out of date.”
Eby said Trump’s strategy had been deliberate, with the intention to destroy the Canadian economy.
He called Trump’s actions reprehensible, inexplicable and profoundly disappointing, and said it made him, British Columbians and Canadians very angry.
Earlier Monday, Eby said companies in B.C. were working to redirect critical minerals to markets outside the United States.
He said he had spoken with the leaders of B.C. mining and refining firms, who indicated they were redirecting products to alternative markets ahead of Trump’s initial pledge to impose the tariffs by Tuesday.
The premier said B.C. companies were in the process of pivoting to redirect commodities such as aluminum and copper to alternative markets.
“It is painful for them, logistically, to be able to make those shifts. But they are making those shifts because they have to,” Eby said.
He said B.C. would not be left out of the “historic reordering” of global trading patterns that is underway.
The shift presented an opportunity for the province to “build allyship and partnership” with others Trump was targeting or threatening with steep tariffs, including Mexico, the European Union and the United Kingdom, the premier said.
“We’ll link arms with those other affected countries, we’ll deepen our trade. We have what the world needs. We have the confidence to do it, and we’re going to do it.”
Eby noted B.C. had opened new trade offices in Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines over the last 18 months.
“We’re going to continue to do that work. There is unlimited potential,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.
Nono Shen and Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
