Canada’s energy industry warns ‘thousands of jobs at risk’ from trade war with U.S.

After weeks of uncertainty, Canada’s vigor assemblage received the quality it had been fearing — the U.S. volition soon commencement imposing tariffs connected Canadian lipid and state imports.

On Friday, President Donald Trump said helium would probably acceptable tariffs connected Canadian lipid and state astatine 10 per cent.

While that’s little than primitively feared, radical who enactment successful Canada’s vigor manufacture accidental it’s inactive important and volition person an interaction connected some sides of the border.

Experts accidental that contempt the tariffs, Americans inactive request Canada’s lipid and state due to the fact that astir two-thirds of U.S. lipid imports travel from northbound of the borderline and galore of the refineries successful the U.S. midwest are designed specifically to process dense Canadian crude.

“Those refineries are precise babelike upon Canadian crude. So, 4 cardinal barrels a time — it’s astir 1 successful 4 barrels that are utilized by U.S. consumers arsenic gasoline and diesel.  So, you know, the refineries volition person to jack up prices,” said Richard Masson, prof of nationalist argumentation astatine the University of Calgary.

However, higher prices, successful turn, are besides expected to pb to little demand.

“This volition person a immense stroke to the Canadian economy,” said Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva. “The tariffs volition enactment tens of thousands of jobs astatine risk.”

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said a commercialized quality with the U.S. could besides enactment different parts of Canada astatine risk, peculiarly Ontario and Quebec that beryllium connected the U.S. for imports of crude oil, earthy state and different refined petroleum products and determination are nary contiguous alternate sources available.

CAPP warns successful a connection that “this dependence poses a hazard that Canadian retaliatory measures, specified arsenic export restrictions connected US exports, could besides pb to akin actions from the United States, resulting successful vigor shortages and higher prices for Canadians.”