David Eby has said British Columbia will no longer be running its own anti-tariff ad campaign aimed at Americans.
Instead, the premier said, the province will work with Ottawa to ensure both are working “in line with strategy going forward.”
Eby said his decision to work with the federal government was “a recognition” of the “efforts” made by the Liberal government to address BC’s concerns about US tariffs on softwood lumber.
“My belief is now that the province is not going it alone on softwood, that we have a strong partner here that's going to work with us to ensure that whatever the tactic is that's taken around negotiation with the Americans, whatever the tactic is that's taken around supporting workers and businesses, we're going to be doing it together,” he said.
His change of heart comes after Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, along with Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson and Housing Minister Gregor Robertson, flew to Vancouver to discuss lumber tariffs with Eby.
The premier has been complaining for months that Ottawa was more concerned about Ontario and Quebec’s industries, namely steel and auto manufacturing, than BC's lumber sector during trade negotiations with the US.
Eby had previously insisted he would still run anti-tariff ads aimed at a US audience even though Donald Trump claimed he killed trade talks with Canada last month because of a similar campaign overseen by Ontario’s premier.
But he clarified in Vancouver today that he agreed to dial back the threat in exchange for federal attention to lumber.
“Given the reaction to the Ontario tariffs, one of my commitments to the federal government was that if they came to the table with us, if they sat with us, that we would work with them on communications, on strategy, on how to support the sector and how to move forward,” he said, implying a quid pro quo arrangement.
Eby also claimed, confusingly, that Ottawa “didn’t have to ask” him to hold off on the ads because “I knew that it was a source of anxiety for many people, including potentially the federal government, given the reaction to the Ontario [ads].”
LeBlanc, meanwhile, said he was setting up a working group with Eby to discuss the forestry sector.
He said the industry was central not only to BC, but Canada as a whole.
The Americans have hit the softwood lumber industry with devastating tariffs since Trump took charge in January.
They include anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadians firms of between 26 and 47 per cent, alongside a threatened 10 per cent tariff on top of them.
