Northern New York border interests are criticizing the Trump Administration’s less than 24-hour turnaround over tariff implementation.
Tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods were initially set to go into effect on February 4th but the Trump Administration delayed the import taxes until March 4th. On Wednesday afternoon President Trump said the 25 percent tariffs on goods would be again be delayed until April 2nd. But by Thursday morning the federal administration backtracked and said the tariffs would be effective on March 4th after all.
North Country Chamber President Garry Douglas says business interests on both sides of the border are stunned and confused by the abrupt reversal.
“It is bewildering enough and challenging enough to continually go on with this threat overhead of the tariffs being imposed and having to make business decisions in that kind of atmosphere which is already raising costs. But then to get one indication on one day, another indication the next day. You wonder what the indication’s going to be tomorrow. It’s just stunningly bad for business, American business and Canadian business,” Douglas said. “What we don’t know and can’t know is this just another tactic to take a final squeeze on Canada to try to get some other concession out of them and Mexico and then on Monday or Tuesday we’ll hear never mind, it’s back to April 2nd? Or are we actually about to be in a full-scale trade war?”
New York Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, a Democrat from the 115th District who chairs the Assembly Task Force on New York Canada Relations, says the situation with tariffs is getting ridiculous.
“Yesterday we were a little bit relieved knowing that they would be put off until April. Then this morning we hear that they’re going with the March deadline again. It’s creating uncertainty. There’s one thing that the markets like and our businesses like and our residents like and that’s certainty,” Jones asserted. “We can’t keep running up to these deadlines and saying yes, no, maybe, yes again. And it’s really damaging our relationship with our friends and neighbors to the north, which we depend on.”
Democratic Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman said the Trump Administration’s initial Wednesday cabinet meeting offered a false sense of hope to cross border communities.
“There definitely needs to be areas of our border strengthened. I don’t think people question that. But what people are noting here, and what we’re trying to draw attention to, is the fact that there is so much business that is done between our two countries and there is a cultural and economic connective tissue here that is going to be more than strained. It’s being put in the crosshairs of potentially irreparable harm,” Cashman explained. “I’ve been talking with many of my peers in Canada and we are trying to find ways to share one strong voice to address these horrible tariffs.”
A 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum is scheduled to take effect on March 12th.
