On Wednesday, in his first cabinet meeting since becoming president, Donald Trump reaffirmed to his secretaries and ministers he will go ahead with 25% tariffs on Canadian goods and services shipped to the US, with the exception being a 10% tariff on Canadian energy exports.
What he isn't exactly sure of is when all tariffs will be put in place.
He originally targetted March 4, but last Friday he said tariffs on pharmaceuticals, autos and computer chips would be delayed to April 2, adding he will slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on March 12.
On Tuesday, after the regular Calgary city council meeting, Mayor Jyoti Gondek acknowledged Trump could change his mind.
“We don’t have a crystal ball, we don’t know if he’s actually going to impose these,” Gondek told reporters.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has said Calgary would be the second most city in Canada affected by the tariffs, with an estimated $119 billion, 96% the city’s exports, going to the US.
Regardless, during that meeting, councillors heard from the city’s Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth on how his office is reviewing processes to “limit exposure” to the city and conducting its business
The good news, said Duckworth, is roughly 95% of city contracts with suppliers and others are with Canadian and non-American companies, with approximately 5% from US-based companies.
“The city has been examining the impacts of US tariffs on a contract-by-contract basis,” Duckworth said in his presentation to council. “Within each project, we are identifying the level of US dependency and will employ strategies to mitigate the impact of tariffs to those projects.”
Duckworth added, in a pro-active move, the Scotia Place event centre project team began sourcing steel and aluminum from inside Canada and Europe to mitigate expected price fluctuations and supply chain delays.
Major excavations and construction of Scotia Place are schedule to begin in the spring.
To limit the impact to supply chains, Duckworth told council the city will look at additional strategies for sourcing materials, including increasing the universe of approved suppliers and awarding contracts to that larger supplier base and investigating additional and alternate logistic routes, purchasing materials in advance and determining local alternatives when sourcing materials.
Last week, Mayor Gondek suggested fees for companies to submit bids to the city would be eliminated, which was confirmed by Duckworth.
A tariff estimator tool to gauge the numerous levy rates has been developed, and city staff are keeping a close watch on foreign currency exchange rates due to a weak Canadian dollar.
“Council, I want you to know my team and I are taking this situation extremely seriously,” said Duckworth.
Also presenting at the council meeting were Brad Parry, CEO of Calgary Economic Development and Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re opening lines of communication, not just in the US but around the world to make sure people understand our story and open up those markets for our products,” Parry told council.
Yedlin indicated uncertainties about tariffs has disrupted Calgary businesses across industry sectors and of all sizes.
“What we’re hearing from our members is that dollars are sitting on the sidelines,” Yedlin said. “Big companies and small companies are waiting to make investment decisions to carry forward, to commit capital, and investors are also standing on the sidelines because they’re concerned the impact the tariffs will have.”
City administration recommended six actions for council to consider, including, among others, an assessment of the city’s procurement policies and processes to support the purchase of non-American goods and services and advocating for local supply chains and urge all levels of government to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers.
Upon imposition of tariffs councillors will be updated monthly on the impacts on the city’s operations including supply chain disruptions and potential cost increases.