The top executive of a manufacturing industry group says Canada should look to compete on high value manufacturing and consider providing tariff relief for some firms.
Jayson Myers, the chief executive officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Wednesday that Canada has one of the “best manufacturing sectors in the world.” He said there aren’t many other countries that have similar assets as Canada regarding manufacturing capabilities, technology and workforce skill sets.
“We’re seeing manufacturing change, we’re looking at bio manufacturing, and manufacturing micro devices, precision manufacturing, manufacturing that is also combining services and much more customized products, and that’s where the value is,” he said.
“We don’t compete on high volume manufacturing, leave that to the Americans. We compete on the basis of high value manufacturing, short production runs, lots of service,” he said.
Myer’s comments come after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada would respond “unequivocally” to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Trump.
Trump singed an executive order on Feb. 1 to place 25 per cent tariffs on all goods imported from Canada, except for energy, which would face a 10 per cent tariff. That plan was subsequently put on pause for 30 days. This week, Trump announced that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum starting on March 12, which the White House says would be stacked on other levies.
Myer said that a weaker loonie compared to the U.S. dollar makes tariffs “a bit more terrifying” and poses issues for companies looking to import products.
“We’re going to be paying, probably counter tariffs if they are put into effect, on top of a depreciated dollar, which means that we’re going to be facing a lot more pain potentially than our American counterparts. So, we have to be careful around that,” he said.
As a result he think Canada could look at providing “some form of tariff relieve or tariff rebate or tariff credit for those companies that are investing in new technology” as U.S. imports would become more expensive in Canada.
Given the current economic uncertainty, Myer said it is a great time for manufacturers in Canada to pivot into new lines of business or product lines, similar to what took place five years ago during the trade war in the first Trump administration.
