The B.C. government is willing to participate in retaliatory measures against the United States if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of Canadian tariffs, but boy is it going to sting British Columbians in numerous ways.

That was the message delivered loud and clear by Premier David Eby this week, as he contributes — cautiously — to Ottawa’s plan to put together a counterattack to Trump’s promised 25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming in the United States from Canada and Mexico.

“Nothing is off the table,” Eby said Thursday. “We are prepared to support retaliatory tariffs and a response to the United States that gets their attention, help them understand what the consequences would be for British Columbians, and what the consequences would be for Americans.”

Nobody is going to win on either side of the border in a tariff war, Eby said. And he’s absolutely right. The duelling tariffs would only serve to squeeze the B.C. economy on both sides of the issue — unable to export some products for sale due to American financial penalties, unable to export other products due to Canadian political calculations, and facing rising costs all around in a supply squeeze.

“There are significant impacts to British Columbians in any kind of scenario,” said Eby.

“It’s hard to under-emphasize how tied we are, and what the consequences of both tariffs and retaliatory tariffs would be.”

Nor is the premier particularly enthused about the........

© BIV