Meant to sting U.S., Canada's retaliatory tariffs would hurt home building here, P.E.I. group warns

The Construction Association of P.E.I. says the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports, and what Canada will do to strike back, will have a major impact on people planning to build on the Island this year.

"Until we get a little more information on what we are dealing with, it's really hard to get a full understanding of what's next," said Sam Sanderson, executive director of the association.

After briefly imposing 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods heading south of the border, on Thursday afternoon U.S. President Donald Trump paused the measure until April 2 for all goods covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

"As a result, Canada will not proceed with the second wave of tariffs on $125 billion of U.S. products until April 2nd, while we continue to work for the removal of all tariffs," Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said later in the day. 

It's hard to say what Trump will do next. However, the thought of what Canada might do to retaliate with counter-tariffs as the April 2 deadline approaches is looming large on Sanderson's mind.

"Close to 60 per cent of materials come out of the U.S. So that in itself is going to have a big impact on the industry," he said. "Potential cost increases, shipping availability are going to be factors as well."

Steven Myers, P.E.I.'s minister of housing, land and communities, said he is "not a big fan" of retaliatory tariffs.

"I realize we're in a trade war and we're kind of getting pushed around a little bit, but we have to be careful, when we put measures on our side of it, we're not negatively impacting an industry," he said.

"We've spent a lot of money to try and get the industry up and rolling and [building] housing that can help us out of the crisis we are in. The last thing on earth we want now is to add a whole bunch of money onto the final total so that it becomes even more unaffordable."

The U.S. ships steel into Canada for home construction along with mechanical and electrical products, Sanderson said.

"The vast majority of some of those come out of the U.S. We saw it during COVID; some of the specialized mechanical equipment and stuff was very delayed… upwards of a year or better for some specialized equipment," he said, adding that those products are essential for heating and cooling in large buildings.

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said it's a fluid situation, but he believes U.S. tariffs will raise the cost of construction on the Island.

"It's hard to predict which will be hit the most. As of 48 hours ago, it was 25 per cent on everything," he said. "There is no predictability with President Trump."

The uncertainty of the situation will cause "havoc" with the markets, he said.