Although Saskatchewan industries are largely exempt from the latest round of tariffs from the US, the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce says that doesn’t mean we won’t feel the effects.

On Saturday, President Trump implemented 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods. Then on Tuesday, Canada imposed tariffs on $26.7 billion of American imports, including seafood, certain paper products, certain dairy products, cosmetics and some lumber products.

Chamber CEO Jason Aebig says there will be an economic cost to the drawn-out, uncertain process of negotiating a deal with our southern neighbours.

“I think this is going to hit household budgets more directly than anything…We’re going to have to be more selective in terms of where we spend our discretionary income.”

Although there was a lot of optimism about scoring a trade deal with the U.S., he says Canada always had a 50/50 chance of coming home with an agreement.

During deliberations, Canadians were being told by negotiators that they were ‘close’, but Aebig says it is also important to remember that the U.S. approach to trade policy is currently quite unpredictable and volatile.

“As more details come out about why those talks broke down, I think it becomes more and more clear that the Prime Minister really had no choice. The list of last-minute demands that were thrown on the table were really, frankly, insurmountable to negotiate through.”

He cites one example; Trump’s idea that signing a deal with the U.S. should come at the expense of trade relationships with other countries.

However, Aebig says he is proud of the strong, steady leadership that he sees on our provincial level, when the premiers of other provinces are firing insults like projectiles.

On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Trump a dictator, a bully, a loser, and the king of bankruptcies.