B.C. minister confident of new aluminum markets, as risk of 50% U.S. tariffs emerges

British Columbia’s aluminum sector will find new markets beyond the United States, provincial Mines Minister Jagrup Brar said, after the prospect of American tariffs as high as 50 per cent on Canadian metal exports emerged.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum would be stacked on top of a broad 25 per cent levy on Canadian goods, said a White House official who confirmed the plan on background.

“Whether it’s 25 per cent or more, it’s going to affect families and businesses on both sides. There’s no doubt about that,” Brar said in an interview on Tuesday.

“We are very confident that we can help the aluminum business access markets as quickly as possible.”

Brar said that it takes roughly five years to get an aluminum smelter up and running, so U.S. consumers would be paying more for goods made from aluminum for at least that amount of time.

“It’s a fact that B.C. is well positioned to diversify our trade and help businesses access new markets,” Brar said.

The 25 per cent U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports were announced Monday and are set to take effect on March 12. Trump previously threatened 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, and said those tariffs could still proceed in early March.

B.C. produces aluminum as well as metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel. While some of B.C.’s metallurgical coal is exported to the U.S., most of it is shipped to other markets such as Asia, Brar said.

B.C. Premier David Eby landed in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to join other provincial and territorial leaders in a united front against American tariffs. They’ll meet with U.S. lawmakers and businesses to talk about trade and tariffs as the threat of the levy on more Canadian goods looms in early March.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Paris on Tuesday for a global summit on artificial intelligence where he cautioned U.S. Vice-President JD Vance against steel and aluminum levies.

A senior government official said Trudeau spoke with the vice-president about the impact steel tariffs would have in Ohio, which Vance represented previously in the U.S. Senate.

Eby said late Monday that the recent tariff friction with the United States would fundamentally change the way Canadians approached trade with their southern neighbours.

Things “will never go back to the way that we were before,” he told reporters at Vancouver’s airport on Monday evening ahead of his trip.

Canadians were “way too reliant on the decisions of one person in the White House,” Eby said, adding that the province and the country would emerge stronger from this experience because “the world needs what we have.”

Tim McEwan, senior vice-president of corporate affairs at the Mining Association of BC said tariffs on aluminum “will not only harm Canadians, but ultimately hurt U.S. businesses and everyday Americans.”

“Canada and B.C. have the critical minerals and metals the United States needs to meet their technological, defence and national security objectives,” he said in an emailed statement.

Eby has previously called the U.S. threat of tariffs a “declaration of economic war against a trusted ally and friend” and “a complete betrayal” of the historic bond between Canada and the United States.

When asked if the premiers will have access to “decision makers who are the closest to the president,” Eby said they are working to set up those meetings.

“And I can assure you that we do have meetings set up with a number of senior decision makers in (U.S.) government.”

One group of politicians the premiers will seek to actively engage with will be those from Trump’s Republican party, Eby adds.

“This is a Republican-led initiative against Canada,” Eby said of the tariff threats.

“Obviously, we need to help them understand the importance of our tightly linked economies, and that while they may think they’re trying to get something from Canada, it’s just mutually assured damage.

“It’s a war where the shrapnel goes in all directions.”

Gagan Singh, a farming advocate and blueberry farmer in Abbotsford, B.C., said that a significant amount of the province’s fruit and vegetables are exported to the United States.

If tariffs are placed on food, more locally grown produce could stay in Canada and push prices lower. While this may be advantageous for consumers, it would hurt farmers’ income, he said.

However, with so much public awareness about the potential tariffs, the public is now seeking local produce to support Canada.

“Because of these tariffs, we’re seeing a bigger push for local produce. You’re seeing retailers adding more labelling on this is local Canadian made,” Singh said.

Eby also said his government would ensure that B.C. businesses can diversify and that interprovincial trade barriers can be brought down.

Since the tariff threat was made, the B.C. government announced it will fast track 18 critical mineral and energy projects, and has set up a trade and economic security task force and a new cabinet committee “war room” to co-ordinate ways to protect workers, businesses and economy.

“I am convinced, because the world needs what we have, that we’re going to come out the other side of this stronger, more independent, more resilient and more prosperous,” Eby said of the tariff tensions. “But in the meantime, a bunch of unnecessary damage will be done.”

-With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington, D.C., and Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2025.

Marcy Nicholson and Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press