China and the United States continue to threaten each other with trade tariffs and Canada is stuck in the middle of it.
On Wednesday, China announced its own trade tariffs following the U.S. plans for tariffs on over 100 items. China released its own list of goods which include soybeans, whiskey and beef.
980 CJME business analyst Paul Martin told the 980 CJME Morning Show Canada will be affected if the tariffs are imposed.
“We’re directly involved because we’re a trading province, a trading nation and our customers, whether they’re on that side or this side of the Pacific, are both being affected so that’s going to hit us.”
While there are plans for the tariffs to take effect, none have been put in place at this time.
Martin said the hope is that cooler heads will prevail.
“They’re very disruptive and just upset that applecart.”
He said these kinds of trade tactics were common in the past but in the last 20 to 30 years the global economy has settled down a bit.
Martin said these trade actions will have both positive and negative effects on Canada and Saskatchewan.
On one hand, China might be buying more Canadian crops and items. But some of Canada and Saskatchewan’s biggest customers — including American farmers — won’t be purchasing as much.
“These things just escalate and there really is no clear winner in it.”
He said this could also have positive effects for NAFTA negotiations, with an agreement possibly being reached quicker, but said there are mixed messages coming from the White House.