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President Donald Trump’s decision to pause the latest round of threatened tariffs on Canadian goods is welcome news. For businesses in London and across Southwestern Ontario, the alternative would have been another serious shock to an already uncertain trading environment.
The problem has most decidedly not gone away. This is a three-day pause to give negotiators time to work.
That is encouraging. Dialogue is producing results. But Canadian businesses need more than a temporary reprieve. They need to know what the rules will be next month, next year and several years from now.
Uncertainty has a real economic cost. Businesses make decisions about hiring, investment and expansion based on some reasonable expectation of what the future will look like. When the rules can change within days, those decisions become harder to make.
London has a particular stake in what happens next.
According to the London Economic Development Corporation, more than 700 London businesses exported approximately $7.8 billion in goods to the United States in 2023. Our manufacturing, transportation, food processing and related sectors are deeply connected to the North American economy.
Many London companies operate within supply chains that cross the Canada-U.S. border repeatedly. Components made in Ontario can become part of a product assembled in the United States and move across the border again. Tariffs introduced into that system quickly add costs on both sides.
For London businesses, the question is bigger than what tariff rate may apply on Friday. It is whether a company can confidently make a five-year investment when the rules governing its largest export market can change within days.
Canada’s immediate priority must be securing a durable and predictable trading relationship with the United States. Our economies are extraordinarily integrated, and businesses and consumers in both countries benefit from that relationship.
The experience of the past year should also change how we think about Canada’s economic future. We need to make it easier to trade across provincial borders, develop more international markets and create better conditions for Canadian businesses to invest and grow at home.
London is well positioned to be part of that effort. We have a diverse economy, significant advanced manufacturing and food sectors, major educational institutions and companies already competing internationally.
The tariff pause gives negotiators some breathing room. They should use it.
For businesses, the objective is simple: a stable Canada-U.S. trading relationship that lets companies get back to investing, hiring and growing.
We can welcome the pause. What businesses need next is certainty.
