Burnaby Board of Trade Urges Speedy Resolution to Aluminum Tariffs, Mitigation for Negative Impacts

The Burnaby Board of Trade (BBOT) is calling for a speedy resolution to aluminum trade dispute with the United States, and is encouraging the federal government to direct attention to resolving this matter and putting in place efforts to mitigate the negative impacts on Canadian businesses.  The BBOT has engaged directly with the Department of Finance and will be working with our local Members of Parliament on this issue going forward.

On August 16, the United States imposed tariffs of 10% on imports of certain aluminum products from Canada, and the Canadian government is poised to impose its own 10% tariff countermeasures on September 16.

The BBOT understands that retaliatory tariffs by Canada are unfortunate but largely unavoidable, and are necessary to exert pressure on the United States to reverse their actions. However, given the current state of the Canadian economy and the unprecedented challenges already being faced by our business community, we need to ensure this trade dispute is resolved as quickly as possible, and any measures under our own control do not unduly impact Canadian businesses negatively.

The BBOT is encouraging the government to consider ways of mitigating the negative impacts of the Canadian countermeasures such as a tariff exemption process, and a rotation of the products to which tariffs are applied, as well as drawing attention to specific tariff items which are particularly problematic.   Read more on the tariffs here.