Manitoba businesses expedite freight movement

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This article was published 01/02/2025 (224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the United States implementing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods today, some companies in Manitoba have expedited their freight movements in anticipation of the disruption, Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA) executive director Aaron Dolyniuk told the Sun.

“The companies have freight movements in anticipation of the tariff to mitigate immediate challenges,” Dolyniuk said.

The tariff implementation, part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s America First Trade Policy (AFTP), follows a White House announcement on Friday reaffirming that the Feb. 1 deadline remains in effect. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Trump is moving forward with imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China due to concerns about illicit fentanyl entering the United States.

“The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25 per cent tariff on Mexico, 25 per cent tariff on Canada and a 10 per cent tariff on China,” Leavitt said.

Dolyniuk explained the tariff is expected to affect industries across Manitoba, particularly trucking, agriculture and manufacturing, which depend heavily on efficient transportation.

“The tariff will have a profound impact on the industry, as approximately 41 per cent of Manitoba’s trucking sector is engaged in cross-border trade,” he said in an interview on Friday. “If Manitoba products and American products become less competitive, we’re not shipping out as many Manitoba products and that’s going to have a large impact because over 12,000 people in the province are involved in north-south freight movements.”

He explained that the tariffs would increase costs, disrupt integrated supply chains and “threaten thousands of trucking jobs” in Manitoba. Industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing, which rely on affordable transportation, would also face significant setbacks.

Most Canada-U.S. trade moves by truck and in 2024, the Canadian trucking industry moved more than $350 billion worth of imports into the United States,” Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) chair Greg Arndt said.

“Twenty-five per cent tariffs threaten our industries and customers in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as thousands of jobs in the trucking sector — the largest employer of males in Canada,” he said.

The tariff is an imminent threat to Canadian manufacturing and employment, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) president Dennis Darby said in a statement issued Friday.

“These tariffs will have an immediate and devastating impact on Canadian manufacturers and their workers — one of the most trade-exposed and vulnerable sectors of the economy,” Darby said. “Committee on Internal Trade should eliminate interprovincial trade barriers by establishing a mutual recognition framework, ensuring provinces recognize each other’s regulations, rules and standards.”

The time for slow, incremental progress, he stated, is over and Canada must “act now” to strengthen its economic foundation amid growing global uncertainty.

While reports of some Manitoba-based companies relocating parts of their operations to the U.S. to avoid the tariff’s impact have surfaced, Dolyniuk noted he has not observed a clear trend in this regard.

“However, some companies have expedited freight movements in anticipation of the tariff to mitigate immediate challenges,” he added.

The MTA director said it was encouraging to see both the provincial and federal governments taking the concerns raised by the U.S. president seriously, adding the industry is also concerned about border security and emphasized the need to improve practices in that regard.

Additionally, Dolyniuk pointed out that some of the challenges with immigration might be correlated with these concerns, suggesting there were, “opportunities for improvement within Canada’s immigration programs.”

Regarding policies that could be amended or introduced to help alleviate the impact on truckers, he highlighted the issue of immigration abuse and illegal cargo shipments as key concerns for the industry.

“A big part of that is local,” Dolyniuk said, referring to Manitoba’s motor carrier enforcement, adding the province had been increasing staffing in that department over the years, but noted that both the trucking industry and Manitoba’s population have grown significantly, meaning more efforts are still needed.

“I think even roadside, having more collaboration with Canadian Border Services and other law enforcement agencies, whether it be police services, the RCMP or motor carrier enforcement, could go a long way,” Dolyniuk added.

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