In a move to help Atlantic Canada withstand United States’ tariffs, New Brunswick’s Premier is proposing a free-trade zone for goods and services within the region.

Susan Holt has penned a letter to the premiers of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and P-E-I to commit to developing an agreement that would make Atlantic Canada a “free-trade” area.

A person who is heavily involved in the food, beverage and hospitality industries is not convinced that being the lone holdout in a free trade agreement among the provinces is the best way to go.

Nine of the ten provinces have agreed to lift some of the barriers, but Newfoundland and Labrador has not signed on as of yet. Government says they are actively pursuing ways to reduce trade barriers, and are monitoring how things play out in other jurisdictions. Deputy Premier Siobhan Coady has specifically pointed out concern for the two largest breweries in St. John’s – Labatt and Molson.

Todd Perrin, an owner in the restaurant business, believes that Newfoundland and Labrador should be aligned with the rest of the country on trade.

“The 10,000-person food and beverage industry, and the 20,000-person hospitality and tourism industry are highly connected to what the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation does,” says Perrin. “It’s a huge percentage of what we buy and what we sell but we’re hurting our ability to be competitive by not joining on to what the other provinces are doing.”