Up to 6,000 jobs could be lost in New Brunswick if the U.S. president makes good on his tariff threats, according to the premier.
Susan Holt revealed the figure to reporters on Wednesday afternoon following a virtual meeting with the other premiers and federal officials.
“When we look at a forecast of potentially 4,000 to 6,000 jobs lost in New Brunswick, in some cases, because production has moved to be replaced in U.S. facilities, or in some cases because that hit to demand will just mean that production will have to reduce, shifts will have to reduce and volumes of employees will have to reduce,” said Holt.
“[We’re] looking at what kind of supports we can provide to the loss of 4,000 jobs, or in some cases, I think the estimate is in the more than tens of millions — into the hundreds of millions of dollars — of impact.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to put 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods as of Saturday.
With 92 per cent of New Brunswick exports going to the United States, the move could have a significant impact on our province.
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During Wednesday’s meeting, Holt said the premiers were presented with an overview of some of the support options the federal government is considering.
That includes potentially removing the employment insurance waiting period so laid-off workers can get money more quickly.
The federal government is also looking at offering easier access to credit and liquidity, similar to what they did during the pandemic.
Holt said they also discussed how labour market development agreements in place between the federal government and the provinces could be modified.
“One thing that I really wanted to emphasize with the federal government was the need for support programs to be flexible and to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and really recognize the differences,” said the premier.
“We have different sectors that will be hit in different provinces, different economic realities, different realities with our labour force.”
Despite Parliament being prorogued currently, the New Brunswick premier said they have been reassured the federal government has the authority and the tools that they need to act within their existing programs and budgets.
Holt said her government is also looking at reducing internal trade barriers and opportunities for diversification in order to help offset some of the impacts of tariffs.
“We’re obviously looking for opportunities to sell more New Brunswick goods to our neighbours across Canada. We’re looking at how we leverage some of those connections to get into European markets,” she said.
The premier said she is optimistic that any tariffs will be short-lived, adding that more U.S. business leaders and lawmakers are seeing how they would be negatively impacted.
