Trump’s trade war has provoked “total hatred” north of the border, with Canada’s PM vowing to support a diversification of trade away from the US
Having called for an election, Canada’s newly installed prime minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney has pledged to fund to the tune of C$5bn ($3.5bn) what he is calling a “trade diversification corridor”.
Asked about the US tariffs’ impact on Canadian logistics, an air cargo executive told The Loadstar, “all I can say is don’t come to Canada with a discussion about America”.
They added: “There is a total hatred now that has been started by Trump, but the fact that the Republican party allows him to do this to Canada will move Canada to urgently diversify our economy away from US.
“Yesterday, the prime minister announced that if he is re-elected his party would create the trade diversification corridor to contend with the tariffs’ impact.”
Not only will the funding be used to speed up work on infrastructure projects at airports, inland terminals, ports, as well as rail and road projects, but it will also be allocated to facilitating trading patterns away from the US.
With more than 70% of Canadian exports heading to its southern neighbour, from which it also gets over 60% of its imports, the push will prove massive for logistics operators.
According to reports, forwarders have already seen a 500% surge in requests ahead of today’s (2 April) “liberation day,” president Trump’s plan to raise reciprocal tariffs on all products from countries that charge tariffs on US exports.
Described by the US commander in chief as “the big one,” he reportedly refused to offer any exemptions, at least in the immediate term, as he did not want to dilute the optics.
The air cargo executive said: “Logistics operators will have to rethink a lot of things as these new rules, regulations, and tariffs are about to create a royal mess for everyone, especially though for US customs, which has struggled to cope in the past.
“Imagine the mess now and if you think congestion at airports was bad in US before, just wait till they try and cope with all the stupidity this brings in one go.”
Noting the “huge ‘buy only Canadian, not American’” movement, the executive seemed confident that the logistics industry would rally around government plans to stand up to what some have described as president Trump’s “bully boy” tactics.
They added: “The ‘buy Canadian’ movement may also help stop leakage by forwarders trucking cargo to USA to catch US airline flights from there, as prices are cheaper.”