Why Saint John, N.B. would feel massive impact from U.S. tariffs [Video]

Political leaders and businesses in Saint John, N.B. are bracing for the impact of looming U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, saying the city is the most vulnerable in the country.

“Tariffs would be inflationary on both sides of the border and this could create a squeeze at the household level, which would be pretty challenging to navigate,” said Fraser Walls, board chair of the Saint John Chamber of Commerce.

On Feb. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods. A day before the tariffs were to go into effect, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump had a phone call, after which Trump paused the tariffs for 30 days.

According to new research by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Saint John would be hit the hardest by U.S. tariffs. 

Using Statistics Canada trade data, the organization came up with a “U.S. Tariff Exposure Index” to look at the potential impact of threatened American tariffs on 41 …