BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the proposed tariffs between the U.S. and Canada would be paused for 30 days.
It was the second tariff-related announcement of the day.
On Monday morning, President Donald Trump said after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum he would pause the plan to impose tariffs on Mexico for a month.
READ MORE: Proposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico paused after countries agree to tougher border security measures
Although the tariffs on Canada will be paused for 30 days, they are still a possibility. I spoke with a range of voices who explained the impact this could have here and across the state.
Scott Laing
"It depends on the product being offered, the degree with which we'll feel it. So grocery prices, we would have felt that pretty quickly. We're going to feel oil prices, utility bills increase quite a bit, especially with Ontario threatening to cut off a lot of their exports of energy to the local area," Laing, a clinical assistant professor of finance at the University of Buffalo School of Management said.
He added this could be felt if you're in the market for a car.
"The tariff is going to hit, because when we think of automobiles, there's so many components to that individual product. It's not an easy one to one thing. There's pieces that we make here. Goes back to Canada, comes back, goes back. So there's a lot of back and forth, and each phase of that back and forth process is going to be subject to the tariffs. So I think a lot of experts expect an average increase of about $3,000 on automobile prices," he explained.
Laing said consumers can expect to feel a "range of pain."
Patrick Bailey
"It's going to be a problem for [manufacturing companies]. Obviously, the big question now is going to be, how is it handled? Are the businesses going to just say, you know, I'm not going to ship to Canada anymore, or is it going to be the fact that they're going to, you know, have to pass these costs down to consumers. Because, you know, now businesses and consumers are all going to be impacted by this," Bailey, director of communications for the Business Council of New York State said. "12 million jobs in the United States depend on the trade between Canada and Mexico. That's 800,000 jobs right here, just in New York State alone. And Canada is still the number two export market for New York State manufacturing. 14% of our goods go to Canada, and that equals about ten billion a year. So certainly a lot is going over to Canada, and it's certainly going to impact all that. That's just manufacturing numbers, by the way. So it's certainly going to impact manufacturers in Western New York."
Tom Clark
"Tariffs are stupid. Nobody wins in a tariff war," Clark, Consul General of Canada in New York said. "We're really hoping for is not a pause. We're hoping that this thing's just gonna stop. This whole idea is gonna stop dead in its tracks, because it doesn't do any good for anybody. It doesn't do any good for people in Erie County, Niagara County, or Southern Ontario, or anywhere else in the United States or Canada. What we've really got to do is start building a game, as opposed to trying to punch each other in the face."
Clark also said he wants to reassure Western New York that despite high emotions — Canada's support remains unwavering.
