Chamber of Commerce GM shares findings from recent Washington visit

Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce general manager Aaron Martin poses in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Martin was a part of the Canadian chamber’s U.S. mission from June 10-11.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Before heading to Washington, D.C. for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s U.S. mission, Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce general manager Aaron Martin shared with the Times that he was focused on getting perspective.

Gratefully, over the two-day trip on June 10-11, Martin got just what he was looking for.

After the chamber’s annual general meeting on June 19, Martin shared what happened over the course of the mission to the chamber’s membership. Because most events were held under Chatham House rules (a governing set of rules that dictates that members can talk about what was discussed but couldn’t attribute what as said to specific people), most of what he said was in generality.

Still, the mission provided answers to some of the questions Martin and the wider local business community had.

One startling fact was that most of the U.S. proponents were quite open about the fact that economically the trade measures the current U.S. administration has implemented (like across the board tariffs) are not helpful for either the U.S. or its partners, though it played well with U.S. President Donald Trump’s base and that was the main driver for why they were implemented.

“The Americans want a sacrificial lamb,” Martin said. “And the two things that kept coming up was timber and dairy … If they did attack either timber or the dairy bit, they wouldn't economically benefit from it, but the political basis that they get from it – they want to make sure they're getting a win for their loggers, they're getting a win for their farmers. And that's where they're really going for this.

“The American public also hasn't felt the impacts of tariffs yet,” Martin went on to say. “So when this was all started … a lot of companies started doing front loading, where essentially they would buy everything they could and stock up their warehouses. A lot of people estimate that'll last for around a year, after which point you'll start to see issues in pricing. Prices will rise because the tariffs will actually come into effect.

“This can be an opportunity for the Canadian government to get a better negotiation with this. As the American consumer feels the squeeze more and more with the tariffs, they'll have more political pressure pushing the other way … If the Canadian government can hold out to then there's a real chance that (Republicans) will lose the House (of Representatives).”

One point that Martin said was agreed upon across the table was China’s abuse of the current trade system, using it to pit countries against each other. China, while not necessarily a boogeyman of the mission, was prevalent in every discussion that was had.

Martin also said that there was more than one representative from Alberta in Washington during the mission that openly expressed support for secession. This was aside from the purpose of the chamber’s mission, but Martin felt it was something worth sharing with the group.

“I think that's something that's been brought up in the media, that this is a non-issue. Nothing's ever going to happen. We have to ensure that Albertans, the average Albertan, doesn't feel they're getting the raw deal that they are feeling, that Confederation is to their benefit and that they want to be a part of it. We need to be unified here. And I think belittling the way they're feeling isn't the way to go forward.”

Overall, Martin called the experience very eye-opening and encouraged anyone with further questions to reach out to him and the chamber, which continues to monitor the international situation and its local impacts in Perth County and area.