Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The trade war between the United States and Canada continues to escalate, as both countries continue to implement tariffs on one another, resulting in a number of other retaliatory tariffs and threats of tariffs between the two nations.
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The continued rift between the two countries over tariffs has local leaders running for the Mayor of Buffalo concerned over the relationship between the two nations, more specifically the city and its neighbors in Southern Ontario.
"Obviously, as a border city, you'd like to see this come to an end, but it's certainly concerning," said Buffalo's Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. "We attract a lot of people in Buffalo from Ontario and a little bit further than that on a regular basis, that contribute to our local economy. I don't think that this tariff war is going to help that at all. I think there's some bad blood building up, some animosity building up, so I'd love to just see an end to come to it."
Scanlon feels there's a lot of confusion surrounding certain elements with the ongoing trade war, including tariffs on electricity imports from Canada. He's hoping that working with different levels of government, in particular representatives in Washington, can help put an end to, at least, some of the issues at hand.
Scanlon does worry that the combination of tariffs being threatened will have a very negative trickle-down effect on municipalities like Buffalo.
"We're the lowest rung on the ladder, so whether it's a stoppage of federal funding for certain things and it doesn't trickle down to the city, that impacts our bottom line. Or a tariff war like this, where maybe you get fewer people coming in from Canada, or goods or services coming in from Canada, that hurts us," Scanlon said in an interview with WBEN. "It's obviously a great concern, so hopefully it'll come to an end."
State Sen. Sean Ryan knows that any kind of trade war that carries on with Canada would be devastating for the city's economy, and greatly impact the New York State economy too.
"We've got to normalize our relationships with Canada. We can't be in a trade war with Canada. Buffalo's economy is so interdependent on Canada. It's amazing that we're going down this route," said Ryan with WBEN.
Over the last couple of weeks, members of the automobile and aggregate industries have made trips to Albany to discuss how the tariffs and ongoing trade war with Canada is causing issues across the board.
"I talked to Stellantis, to GM, to Ford, to Toyota. They're all saying, 'We cannot continue to operate our North America operations if we're going to be taxed every time we move parts from Canada to America and back.' Whether it's Detroit going over, or from Buffalo into Ontario. The parts just go back-and-forth," Ryan noted.
"An aggregate company came in the other day, and they said they have a plant on one side of Lake Erie, and the goods get shipped into Buffalo, something gets done, the goods then get shipped up to Lake Michigan, on the other side of Lake Michigan, and then they come back to get finished in Detroit. They said, 'Under this current proposal, we'll be paying almost a 100% increase on our product cost.'"
Ryan adds if the possible tariffs surrounding electricity imports is implemented, it could buckle the economy on both sides of the border.
"Our electricity goes back-and-forth between Canada all day long. At some point of the day, we're selling power into Ontario. Other parts of the day, we're bringing power in from Ontario. The last thing we need is any dislocation of that, or to have Buffalo residents being paying a 25% surcharge on power," he said.
University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt shares the concerns over the ongoing trade war, knowing how much of an impact the neighbors to the North have in improving the sales tax revenue in the city on a weekly basis.
"To constantly hear about these up-and-down tariffs and the impact on the psyche of Canadians and Americans, it really is very unsettling," Wyatt said in an interview with WBEN. "We already have our financial difficulties as a city by itself, and so to hear these things only compounds the issues as it relates to our city and our fiscal stability. What Washington has done, is not a big help for us."
Wyatt believes with prices of goods and services from Canada likely to increase exponentially, to add on to people already struggling with the high cost of goods, making them even further out of reach for residents in Buffalo is definitely a big concern.
"As we go back-and-forth with this, although it may be seen as a Washington thing, it's started to hit home," Wyatt said. "As I've heard very recently, some of the buildings that's going to be closed down at the federal government is now going to be shutting down because they're going to be furloughing and laying off people. Those are things that have been affecting our marketplace, and again, not a big help to the city as a whole, as we continue to deal with our own financial difficulties."
Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield is particularly concerned over the tariff rift between the U.S. and Canada, especially given the proximity of the city to the Canadian border.
"Obviously Buffalo, unlike many other American communities, sits on the international border with our neighbors to the North, and has a great relationship with them, has always had that. We're very dependent on that relationship, and I believe them on ours," said Whitfield with WBEN. "This is much bigger than just the tariffs. It's about having a relationship, a working relationship, with our neighbors to the North."
Whitfield feels with the way the U.S. is treating Canada, damaging its relationship, he fears it will give Canadians a much more negative perception of the U.S. and Buffalo going forward.
"Economically, politically, these things are going to have a devastating impact on our economy, more so than most being a border city," he said. "How is it going to impact us in terms of jobs? In terms of the viability of our stores and the other things that are here? Our auto plants? All of us depend on commerce coming back-and-forth over that bridge, over that border. And so these things are very, very concerning for us."