BC Premier Tables Legislation Giving Government Sweeping Powers to Respond to US Tariffs

B.C. Premier David Eby speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, on Jan. 7, 2025. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

The B.C. government has introduced legislation granting cabinet temporary emergency powers to respond to U.S. tariff with tolls on U.S. commercial traffic to Alaska, directing Crown corporations not to buy American goods, and measures to reduce or eliminate barriers to inter-provincial trade.

The opposition Conservatives meanwhile challenged the government’s granting itself the extraordinary powers.

The move is a response to tariff measures announced by the United States, including 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada, and a 10 percent tariff on energy, though the United States has since paused some of the tariffs. President Donald Trump has also put a 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, and is looking at tariffs on Canadian lumber.

Further retaliatory tariffs could be imposed after April 2, as Trump has directed his officials to review tariff measures on U.S. goods imposed by other countries, including Canada.

Premier David Eby said the legislation known as Bill 7 Economic Stabilization Act (Tariff Response) is an emergency measure.

“We see this as emergency legislation. This is not everyday legislation. This is not routine legislation,” he said during a March 13 news conference in Victoria.

“This is an emergency situation where we need legislative authority. We need government authority to do something quickly to minimize damage to the economy, to people, and an unpredictable action from an unpredictable president. And so that’s the intent of the legislation,” Eby said.

“The tools in the legislation are about setting us up to respond quickly and will not have to be used unless the U.S. forces our hand to use them,” Attorney General Niki Sharma told reporters at the news conference.

The bill includes a sunset clause that would see the cabinet powers end by May 28, 2027, according to a government news release.

Eby said the legislation only allows the government to respond if there is “anticipated harm” to the B.C. economy and would require judicial review before a judge. There would have to be a reasonable expectation“ of harm to the economy by a foreign government, in this case ”the president and his executive orders,” Eby said.

The regulations would also have to be voted on by the legislature, he said, acknowledging the NDP is “governing with a very slim majority. At any time, members of the Legislative Assembly can decide that this was overreach, collapse the government,” Eby said during the news conference.

Conservative Concerns

However, Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad called the legislation “authoritarian” and said his party won’t support it.

“Bill 7 gives BC’s already authoritarian top-down NDP government sweeping, almost unlimited powers with zero oversight,” Rustad said in a March 13 post on the X platform.

”Bill 7 is so radical that it’s almost hard to believe — for example, it includes provisions that allow the NDP to introduce road pricing and collect your personal information,” he said.

In a follow-up post on X, Rustad said the Conservatives “will never support Bill 7 legislation that includes powers for road pricing, secretive collection of personal information, and almost unlimited ‘emergency’ powers.”

China Tariffs

Eby said the legislation will give cabinet the same authority to respond to tariff threats from China.

China recently announced 100 percent retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola oil, canola meal, and other agricultural products. It also imposed 25 percent levies on Canadian seafood and pork products.

The tariffs were in response to Canada’s 100 percent levies on EVs from China as well as a 25 percent tariff on Chinese aluminum and steel products, announced in October 2024. At the time, Canada said its industries were facing “unfair” competition from Chinese producers. It said China had a state-directed policy of overcapacity and oversupply.

“I’m urging the federal government to treat the tariffs from China the same way as from the United States,” Eby said. “They’re having impacts. They will have impacts on British Columbians, on their livelihoods.”