Premier Tim Houston says Trump’s tariff threats could seriously hurt Nova Scotia.
Houston, along with Canada’s premiers—except Alberta’s Danielle Smith—and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, signed onto memo earlier this week promising to work together to deal with the threat from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. He previously threatened to put a 25 per cent tax on Canadian exports.
That would impact 1000s of jobs across the province, as well as major exports like rubber, seafood and lumber. For example, Michelin has three tire plants across the province that employ many people and many of the tires are sold to the U.S.
“That’s why, as a country, we’re working together to develop a plan to see how we can respond and see how we can support Nova Scotians. My number one priority is to protect Nova Scotian jobs,” he says.
He adds that he’s Canadian, so he’s concerned for the country as a whole.
Houston wouldn’t reveal what the province might do to respond to the tariff threats while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
The United States is a long-standing trading partner with the province, and those ties go back generations. He mentioned Nova Scotia’s tradition of sending a Christmas tree to Boston every year as a thank you for helping after the Halifax explosion, which happened in 1917.
Houston says he was pleased with the federal plan that he and the other premiers discussed with Trudeau.
And he says the ‘Trump tax’ will make things more expensive for Americans, too, and a lot of American policy makers understand that, as well.
“Sometimes you just need to remind people [that] we’re good neighbors and we’re good friends and we have strong family ties, and we just need to support each other.”
