NEWS ALERT
BALLINRAN ENTERNTAINMENT
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A former Canadian diplomat with extensive experience in Canada - U.S. relations says that given the cross-border integration of the automotive sector, Stratford and Southwestern Ontario will feel the impact should the Trump tariffs take effect.
Speaking on The Stratford Slice Podcast with Craig Thompson, Roy Norton, a former top diplomat at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. and former Canadian Consul General to Detroit and Chicago, talked about how Stratford and the broader regional economy will be impacted should the Donald Trump follow through with his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports on Inauguration Day, Monday Jan. 20.
We have highlighted two direct quotes from The Stratford Slice podcast, which is available on Apple, Spotify and other major podcasting platforms as well as on www.mystratfordnow.com and at the podcast's website - www.thestratfordslice.ca. For broadcast media, we have also included two audio clips which can be used with attribution to The Stratford Slice Podcast with Craig Thompson. For print and digital media, we have also included a photo from the podcast.
Clip #1
" President Trump is feeling all powerful, it would seem. He may be of the view that the United States can withstand any negative shocks that would associate with the tariffs in the interests of attracting investment from Stratford, for example, uh, you know, if we have, as you know well, in those industrial parks in in the south, southern part of the city a lot of firms, some of them foreign owned, some of them American owned, some of them Japanese, Korean, German others who have set up here in order to be able to manufacture here and sell into integrated supply chains in Detroit.
(...)
And we've got firms that, that easily have half a billion dollars in revenues. Located right here in Stratford, maybe closer to a billion that are part of that supply chain who are potentially going to face 25 percent tariffs on their exports, which could seriously affect their profitability, to put it mildly, and might even cause significant layoffs here with attendant knock on effects to the local economy."
Clip #2
"Given the amount of employment I'm sure that I probably could substantiate that there's at least 5,000 people in Stratford, 5,000 jobs in Stratford, maybe closer to 10, 10,000 working in the automotive sector and, or light manufacturing or heavier manufacturing. If they proceed and they proceed full bore from the get go, i.e. 25 percent on day one, Then it won't take very long before exports diminish and there are layoffs here, right here in Stratford. With all of the knock on effects on, you know, retail and hospitality and so on, if people no longer have their jobs or they're working shorter shifts, or whatever, they have less disposable income to spend on other things everybody in the city benefits from."
More info on Roy Norton
https://balsillieschool.ca/people/roy-norton/
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