Trade wars are a losing proposition. We encourage a focus on more productive trade measures, such as the 2019 ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnerships. The CPTPP is a new free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, currently in effect between 6 of the 11 partner nations with Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru still to ratify. It is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world and provides enhanced market access to key Asian markets. The CPTPP strongly positions Canada to take market share from the US in countries such as Japan and Malaysia: it allows Canada’s western gateway BC to play a key role in “export diversification” to Pacific partners.

Working with BC’s Ministry of Jobs, Trade, and Technology, the Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch, and the International Strategy and Competitiveness Division, BCCA urges the federal government not to impose tariffs on construction materials. Read the letter sent to Bruce Ralston Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology. The costs of construction are already high and have been rising for some time. Margins are low for developers and contractors, and housing is already unaffordable for many British Columbians: tariffs on steel, iron, and aluminum, which are crucial materials for construction, will just make these situations worse.

BC has big energy projects underway such as Site C and the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat. Steel is important in every part of the oil and gas industry, from drilling, production, processing, to storage and transportation utilizing pipelines. Tariffs on products that are of particular relevance to the oil and gas sector will add increased risk to final investment decisions on major projects that are enormously important to BC’s economy.