Alberta business leaders describe Trump tariff threat as scary [Video]

“Shocking, unexpected and terrified,” is how the CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Deborah Yedlin, described her reaction to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to sign an executive order on his first day in office (January 20, 2025) to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all products coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on all imports from China.

“It makes no sense,” said Yedlin. “I mean, people were sort of thinking about that 10 per cent number, but 25 per cent just came out of the blue.”

Citing previous modelling by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on the impact of just a 10 per cent tariff, Yedlin said Canadians “could potentially see a drop in economic growth by 2.5 per cent, which would be felt on average by about $2,000 per household.”

Mitch Jacobsen, whose company makes …