Fees for trucks travelling from Washington through B.C. to Alaska

Just moments after the United States announced there would be a one-month pause for tariffs on Canadian-made goods, B.C. Premier David Eby announced that commercial trucks travelling through B.C. from Washington to Alaska will now be subject to new fees.

The move is part of the province’s non-tariff retaliation.

The notice of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 30-day reprieve came down just barely minutes before Eby’s announcement was set to begin on Thursday, and the premier says nothing has changed on his end as threats of tariffs and uncertainty are still hanging over Canadians’ heads.

“The chaos and the swings back and forth, the tariffs are on, the tariffs are off. The threats, the orders rescinded, put in place — it’s all a deliberate tactic to weaken our resolve, and it will not work,” Eby said on the lawn of the Legislature.

“We’re going to protect British Columbia’s workers and families come to B.C., and we’re not going to stop.”

Eby says the new legislation, which will require all commercial U.S. vehicles to pay fees, will be tabled in the coming days. But that’s not all.

“It will provide legislative authority to remove internal trading barriers that stop us from trading with our partners and friends, from coast to coast to coast,” he explained.

“Among other authorities, the legislation will give government flexibility to respond rapidly to executive orders from the President as they arise.

“It will also assist us in developing the long-term solutions that we need to ensure our economy grows and that although we face this threat right now, we will come out the other side, stronger, more united, and more prosperous than ever,” he said.

Eby claims Trump has figured out, less than a week into implementing the tariffs, that they’re bad for financial markets and bad for Americans.

“I did see the media report indicating that, yet again, the President is sowing uncertainty and chaos, attempting to undermine our economy by implementing tariffs and then quickly pulling them off,” he said.

“He has realized what we told him from the beginning, which is that these tariffs hurt Americans. They hurt American companies, they hurt American workers, they hurt American families,” he explained.

“And what’s also hurting is the uncertainty that the continued threat and removal of tariffs has on our country.”

Eby noted the measures that Canada and British Columbia have already brought in, including removing red-state liquor from store shelves and Ottawa announcing a 25 per cent tariff on billions of dollars of goods.

“Provinces and territories, including British Columbia, are acting together to reduce trade barriers between our jurisdictions. Just yesterday, ministers announced an agreement to ensure that liquor products from B.C. wineries, distilleries, and breweries can ship freely to consumers across Canada,” he explained.

“While we’re doing this, we’re still reaching out to Americans, speaking directly to Americans through American media and through international media about the cost of this,” he continued.

“For American families, their homes will be more expensive with a 50 per cent tariff on B.C. lumber; their electricity will be more expensive with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian electricity; filling up the gas tank will be more expensive with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian petroleum products; their pasta will be more expensive with a tariff on Canadian wheat; their farmers will be struggling with higher bills for the potash that they need grow food for Americans with a 25 per cent tariff on potash.

“This is foolish. It hurts Americans. It hurts Canadians, and it needs to stop.”

Eby delivered a message to his provincial and territorial counterparts and the prime minister: stand strong.

“We are not going to accept these continual threats, this continued uncertainty. We’re going to stand up for Canadians. This is unacceptable, and we’re going to ensure that the Americans understand how pissed off we are, how unified we are, how committed we are to working as a country to stand up for each other and our own independence on our own two feet,” he said.

“And I say we don’t let up until the President takes the threat off the table.”

Regardless of whether Trump rescinds tariffs on Canadian goods permanently, Eby says some measures — including removing interprovincial trade barriers — will stay in place.

“The reforms we’ll be putting in place are permanent, and our goal is a permanent restructuring of trade across the country so that we’re never in this position again,” he said.

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