Canada aids business with $6.5B in tariff relief

The Canadian government announced new measures on Friday to support workers and businesses affected by trade tensions with the United States.

The Work-Sharing Program is to be expanded, allowing employers to reduce hours without layoffs, covering up to 76 weeks instead of 38. A $5-billion Trade Impact Program through Export Development Canada will assist exporters with working capital, credit insurance and foreign exchange facilities.

Additionally, Farm Credit Canada will offer $1 billion in new lending to support the agriculture sector. The Business Development Bank of Canada will provide $500 million in loans to small businesses, with flexible repayment terms and expert advisory services.

The measures announced by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon aim to mitigate the economic impact of potential tariffs and provide stability to rattled Canadian businesses and workers as U.S. President Donald Trump sows chaos in one of the world’s most integrated cross-border relationships. On Friday, Trump ripped into Canadian dairy and lumber trade and threatened specific tariffs by Monday.

‘Never trust US the same’ 

A day earlier, he suspended 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican goods, and 10% on oil and minerals until early April. Steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. face separate 25% duties from March 12.

“It has become very clear that we can no longer rely as heavily on the Americans as we have in the past,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told reporters in North Vancouver on Friday. “We will never trust the United States in the same way that we have for the past number of decades.”

His remarks, some of the strongest yet by a Cabinet Minister, came with the announcement of $3.5 billion to build two icebreakers for patrolling the country’s northern waters.

Canada must keep addressing “potential vulnerabilities in our energy infrastructure and continuing to make more efficient regulatory and permitting processes to ensure that good projects can get built within reasonable time frames,” Wilkinson said.