Northland politicians react to Trump’s tariffs against Canada

DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) - Tariffs have become a hot-button issue in Washington since President Trump took office, and Northland politicians are sharing concerns as the trade war with Canada escalates.

President Trump’s 25% tariffs on all Canadian steel and aluminum imports into the United States went into effect Wednesday. Just hours after, Canada swiftly responded with 25% counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum of their own, which are set to go into effect Thursday.

Trump has stated the reasoning for the tariffs is to create more balanced trade and to crack down on illegal immigration and fentanyl coming into the United States. But, critics of the move say the tariffs are creating significant tension between the two nations.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said the move could cause Canada, and other nations impacted by the tariffs, to start looking for other trade partners.

“The problem is with the tariffs is, once they are threatened a lot of times, people will go elsewhere for the products,” said Klobuchar.

She said she strongly supports improving border security related to stopping the flow of fentanyl into the United States. However, she does not buy the Trump administration’s reasoning that the tariffs are related to fentanyl in regards to Canada.

“Especially in the case of Canada, it’s a very small percentage (of fentanyl) that comes in,” said Klobuchar. “But the President has wanted to do this work, has wanted to do things on tariffs for a long time regardless of fentanyl.”

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson said he supports the tariffs but acknowledged that retaliation from Canada could hurt two key Wisconsin industries in the short term.

“All I can really do is express to the President my concern, convey to him that the manufacturers, the farmers of Wisconsin that may be harmed by retaliation and hopefully there’s something he can do to alleviate that,” said Johnson.

Overall, Johnson supports the tariffs and said they can be an effective tool to getting fair treatment from foreign governments and to stop illegal immigration and contraband.

“We’re not treated fairly around the world, President Trump is absolutely correct about that, so I don’t have a problem with him using tariffs to obtain reciprocal treatment,” said Johnson.

President of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, Matt Baumgartner, said the constant back and forth on the dates and amounts of the tariffs is creating uncertainty among businesses.

“Not knowing what is the end game, and why did we start this in the first place, was it drug related, is it economically related, is it balance of trade related, and how do we forecast and plan for that,” said Baumgartner.

He believes the moves are creating serious tension among Canadians and says that it could impact tourism for Duluth this summer.

RELATED: Trump’s Canadian tariffs could impact Duluth tourism

The Trump administration is expected to impose reciprocal tariffs on all foreign imports beginning April 2.

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