British Columbia is responding to U.S. tariffs with proposed legislation to levy fees on American truck traffic that passes through the province en route to Alaska.
The proposed measure will be part of legislation that Premier David Eby says will also feature provisions to dismantle interprovincial trade barriers and grant the province flexibility to address executive orders issued by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Eby made the announcement in Victoria March 6, shortly after Trump again announced a tariff pause. Trump signed an executive order making amendments to tariffs recently imposed on Canada so that goods that fall under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be exempt from 25 percent tariffs until April 2.
Under Trump’s latest executive order, the nearly 38 percent of goods imported from Canada that fall under the USMCA will not be tariffed. Much of the 62 percent not covered by the agreement are energy imports, which are currently subject to a 10 percent tariff.
Eby said Trump’s decision would not change B.C.’s legislation plans.
“The chaos and the swings back and forth: The tariffs are on, the tariffs are off, the threats, the orders rescinded, put in place.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.
“We are not going to accept these continual threats, this continued uncertainty. We are going to stand up for Canadians.”
Eby said the province would not immediately impose a toll on trucks, but wants to have the legislation in place as another tool in B.C.’s arsenal to react as needed to the “rapidly escalating and changing situation.”
“The legislation will enable us to respond,” he said. “It will enable us to be able to put that additional cost on trucks going from Washington State to Alaska.”
The proposed tolls are in addition to B.C.’s other retaliatory actions, which involve the removal of alcohol produced in U.S. states from B.C. Liquor Stores and reducing the priority given to U.S. contractors bidding on provincial contracts.
The province has also issued a government-wide directive to prioritize the purchase of Canadian products and is expediting the evaluation process for energy and resource projects to increase its self-sufficiency and trade relations with other countries.
Other premiers have put similar measures in place across the country. The most common response from the provinces has been the removal of U.S. alcohol from store shelves and either ending or tariffing procurement opportunities for American companies.
Ottawa has also taken measures against the United States, enacting $30 billion worth of tariffs on American goods. The remaining $125 billion in tariffs that were set to take effect in two-and-a-half weeks but will now be paused until April 2 in response to Trump’s partial tax reprieve.
