What impacts would American tariffs have on Quebec’s economy?
Posted February 3, 2025 1:04 pm.
Last Updated February 3, 2025 5:24 pm.
While the U.S. administration’s tariffs on Canadian goods have been paused 30 days, an expert breaks down what it means for Quebec.
CityNews spoke to Norma Kozhaya, the vice-president of research and chief economist at the Conseil du patronat du Québec.
How will tariffs affect everyday Canadians, and when can we start feeling these impacts?
Yeah, well, it depends how long they would last. Of course, it will affect us in several ways. And we have also to speak about counter-tariffs, which Canada imposed. So we could expect maybe for the time being some job freezes, maybe eventually job losses, businesses that could choose to relocate in the U.S. At the same time, our counter-tariffs would lead to price increases, for instance. So there are several aspects which Canadians would be affected by these tariffs and counter-tariffs.
Of course, as we saw, the Canadian dollar slipped, it lost value. It might continue also to go down. And so in a way, this will help our exports because they would become cheaper, but our imports will become more expensive. So this is also another implication of what’s going on.
How can businesses – small, medium and large – navigate this uncertain time?
Of course, it’s very difficult. Some are putting on hold all their projects. And we also need, of course, government measures to help businesses depending on the situation. Maybe in some cases with liquidity, and other cases with subsidies, also programs for workers who could be hit ultimately. So government support needs to be there and we have to be also united and hope for the best, continue working on removing these tariffs eventually.
Tariffs or not, how can we better protect the Canadian economy?
Well, different things. Of course, we have to work on our productivity to be competitive. We have to diversify our markets, work more with other provinces, inter-provincial trade, diversify also to other countries in Europe and Africa and everywhere. And also maybe buy more local as well. Of course, we don’t have all the products we want, but we can choose where there are available products we have to buy more. And as the economy in general, we have to be more competitive. So governments have also to reduce taxes, reduce regulatory burden. So we are more productive and more competitive and diversify our export markets.