Responding to tariffs imposed on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, P.E.I.’s premier is vowing to take further steps to protect the Island’s economy — including the possibility of scrapping the multimillion-dollar NHL deal.
On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S., including a 10 per cent tariff on oil and gas.
King pushed back against the tariffs on Sunday, announcing all American wine, beer and spirits will be pulled from provincial liquor store shelves by Tuesday. There will also be measures put in place to prevent restaurants from ordering any more U.S. alcohol.
In an interview with CBC on Monday, King said the province will be reviewing all its spending linked to the U.S. and may possibly cancel existing contracts — including P.E.I.’s multimillion-dollar National Hockey League deal, which designates the Island as the league’s official travel destination.
“The NHL contract is on the table. If I can kill this quickly and not put those dollars into the U.S. market, I will do that,” King told CBC’s Island Morning.
It’s official. As of Tuesday, Americans will pay an extra 25 per cent on Canadian imports. The news is causing widespread uncertainty across the country and on P.E.I. Premier Dennis King joins Island Morning host Mitch Cormier to talk about what it means for the Island and how the province is responding.
The contract shows the province will pay between $7.5 million and $8.4 million in direct costs to the NHL over the course of the three years.
King added the province purchases U.S. goods, such as road paint, but the government will need to secure alternative Canadian suppliers before cutting off imports to avoid disrupting essential services.
“I will give credit to my predecessors, we have done a very good job as Prince Edward Island to buy local and buy Canadian, so there isn’t a whole lot of direct contracts with the United States that we could just sever.”
Working with federal government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Ottawa will levy tariffs on a host of American products in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs.
To start, Canada will slap 25 per cent tariffs on $30-billion worth of U.S. goods coming into Canada as of Tuesday. The tariffs will then be applied to another $125-billion worth of American imports toward the end of the month.
King said P.E.I. will work closely with the federal government to ensure any revenue from these tariffs is distributed fairly to support key industries on the Island like agriculture, tourism and seafood.
“We’ll work in concert with chambers of commerce, with industry associations, with businesses directly, to do everything we can to keep the flow of goods going, and to do so in a way that benefits the Island economy in the short and the long term.”
King continues to stress the importance of diversifying markets, buying local and improving interprovincial trade — with discussions with Ottawa and other premiers focusing on eliminating trade barriers within Canada.
The U.S., however, remains an essential market, King said.
“The United States is the market where we all want to be and should want to be. It’s growing. It’s hungry. It needs our products.”
That’s why there needs to be a measured, strategic response rather than reacting emotionally to the tariffs, King said.
“I know the knee-jerk reaction is, ‘Let’s tell the States to eff off, and we don’t need them.’ But that would be a naive perspective for us,” he said.
He added that making rash decisions could harm P.E.I.’s tourism industry as many American visitors still support P.E.I. businesses and the Island’s economy.
In a news release early Sunday, interim P.E.I. Liberal Leader Hal Perry asked King’s government to reconvene the legislative assembly to discuss what it planned to do.
On Monday morning, Green MLA Matt MacFarlane also urged the premier to develop and share a comprehensive strategy to protect the Island’s economy, including measures such as strengthening interprovincial trade, diversifying markets, launching a buy-local campaign and providing consumer incentives to support local businesses.