Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew reacts to Trump’s tariffs
Posted February 2, 2025 12:43 pm.
Last Updated February 3, 2025 9:09 am.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew responded on Sunday to U.S President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods. The tariffs coming into effect on Tuesday means that Manitoba liquor and lotteries will be directed to stop the sale of American alcohol in the province.
Kinew says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff “is an attack on Canada and who we are.”
“This means that we are going to be taking 80 million dollars out of the us economy,” said Kinew. “This is 80 million dollars that we won’t be spending in the USA. We have to stand up for jobs in our province we have to stand up manufactures and the ag industry and the energy industry and anyone else who’s going to be threatened by these tariffs”
The halt on liquor sales, which comes into effect on Tuesday, follows suit with Ontario, BC, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
The premier urged Manitobans to buy domestic products, and said the province needs to reorient the economy towards local businesses and manufacturing.
Kinew says “Trump built a wall, but it’s a tariff wall targeting us.”
“We need to get stronger at making things, we need to get stronger at mining things, we need to get stronger at energy, we need to get stronger at making tech stuff as well,” said Kinew. “So we need to respond to the Trump tariff tax with immediate measures to support our economy that also gives us time and space to be able to pivot towards where the good jobs are going to be in the future. This is a fight over manufacturing jobs, this is a fight over energy, and we are not going to let those jobs be taken out of our province or our country.”
“He’s quite right, you know we have meat packing here in Manitoba, in Brandon and Winnipeg,” said Christopher Adams, Adjunct professor of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba. “We have bus manufacturing we have an aeronautics industry, and these things are part of the US and Canada’s free trade arrangement. So suddenly placing a 25 per cent tariff really does hammer the economic relations between the two countries.”
The premier said that the halt on U.S liquor sales is the first in a series of announcements to be rolled out this week to support Manitoba businesses.
Kinew says it’s really important for all Canadians to stand together, and he says Manitoba fully supports the federal government’s response to these tariffs.
—With files from The Canadian Press