Placing tariffs on Canadian products entering the U.S. would be “devastating” to the New England economy, Gov. Maura Healey said during an interview with the Herald this month.
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose sweeping 25% taxes on all products coming into the country from Canada and Mexico in one of his first executive orders upon taking office next year, a potential move that has angered elected officials across the northern border.
Massachusetts relies heavily on Canadian lumber for building homes, and another Trump pledge to enact an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products would stymie local efforts to spur the energy and advanced manufacturing industries, Healey said.
“Where does our lumber come from? A lot of it from Canada. So this really hurts. And it’s not just Canada. Look at China. We’re trying to lean hard into technology, applied AI in the state,” Healey said. “There are a lot of component parts that, sure, we want one day to be made here in America but right now they’re made overseas. So tariffs would really hurt our state.”
“It would be devastating for the New England economy if President Trump imposes tariffs,” the governor added.
In a string of November social media posts, Trump tied the tariffs to “thousands” of migrants crossing into the United States through Mexico and Canada who bring “crime and drugs at levels never seen before.”
He said the taxes would remain “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long-simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power,” he said on his social media site Truth Social. “Until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
The potential taxes prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to suggest the nation’s most populous province may bar its local liquor control board from buying American-made alcohol and restrict the export of electricity to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota.
Ontario might also pull back on exporting minerals that are used in electric vehicle batteries and prevent U.S.-based companies from the government’s procurement process, a senior official in Ontario has said.
“It’s a last resort,” Ford said earlier this month. “I don’t think President-elect Trump wants that to happen. We’re sending a message to the U.S. If you come and attack Ontario, you attack the livelihoods of people in Ontario and Canadians, we are going to use every tool in our toolbox to defend Ontarians and Canadians. Let’s hope it never comes to that.”
The potential for tit-for-tat politics led New England governors and Canadian premiers to convene a call earlier in December, according to Healey.
The group, she said, has been talking with industry and trade associations “about this and sort of all advancing together in opposition to tariffs.” But she acknowledged there would be little a state-level chief executive could do if the federal government imposed taxes.
“It’s really an education and lobbying effort vis a vis the Trump administration about how harmful this will be to our economies,” she told the Herald. “That’s really where the focus is. I’m not sure what else can be done.”
Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey also said he was on the call and that officials in both countries are concerned about the taxes.
“We hope it is just bluster,” he said. “We are preparing as if it is not. There will be no winner in a trade war.”
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had dinner with Trump at his private club in Florida to discuss the issue. LeBlanc has said the Canadian government plans to share details of a plan to shore up border security soon.
Trudeau has also said that U.S.-imposed Tariffs would be “absolutely devastating” for the Canadian economy and raise prices for Americans already grappling with increased costs of living.
Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.
