B.C. premier urges feds to reconsider fighter jet purchase, coal shipments as U.S. trade war ramps up

B.C. premier urges feds to reconsider fighter jet purchase, coal shipments as U.S. trade war ramps up

David Eby urges British Columbians to buy Canadian, says province supports counter-tariffs announced Tuesday

B.C. Premier David Eby said the province supports retaliatory tariffs as the trade war with the U.S. ramps up, but urged the federal government to consider non-tariff measures to hit back at punishing American levies.

U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on a number of Canadian goods — including some pulp and paper products, appliances and dairy products — with the federal government announcing retaliatory tariffs to start Sept. 8 as a result.

With B.C. set to be particularly exposed to the new U.S. tariffs, Eby said Tuesday he was pleased to see the federal dollar-for-dollar tariff response.

Speaking at a Vancouver news conference, Eby also urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to consider non-tariff options as the trade war escalates, including a reconsideration of the planned purchase of fighter jets from the U.S. potentially worth billions of dollars.

Carney should consider 'non-tariff measures' to hit back at U.S., says B.C. premier

Eby also pointed to the export of American thermal coal from a port facility in Metro Vancouver, saying Ottawa should look at speeding up the phase-out.

"The reason it goes out of [the port] is because the Americans can't get it out of any of their own ports, they won't ship it themselves."

Former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad once proposed a levy on the U.S. thermal coal shipments to pressure the White House not to put tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

"I'll put those ideas forward to the prime minister," Eby said.

"But what won't change is that we are committed to working in lockstep with the federal government as part of a national strategy to be able to respond to this unjustified attack on our country and on our province."

Eby urged British Columbians and Canadians to buy local in the wake of the trade war, saying "being our own best customer" would help support residents from coast to coast to coast.

"If you have a choice, please don't travel to the United States. Choose another place to do your tourism. If you can choose a Canadian product instead of an American one, please choose it," he said.

Officials say Canadian retaliatory tariffs will target the same goods the Trump administration singled out when it hit Canada with Section 338 and 232 tariffs.

The list of the more than 700 products being hit is posted online.

Ottawa's counter-tariffs find broad support in Canada as businesses brace for trade war impact

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The premier added that the federal government's support for Canadian workers is a "good start," but the details of how employment insurance supports and loans would roll out to small- and medium-sized businesses would be critical.

In a statement, B.C. Federation of Labour president Sussanne Skidmore also called the support measures announced by the provincial and federal governments a solid start.

She said that any government support to businesses should be conditional on the fact that no workers lose their jobs.

"Keeping people on the job has to be the overriding priority for any business support the government provides," she said.

With files from Jillian Kestler-D'Amours, Peter Zimonjic and The Canadian Press