A local financial advisor says U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war will do long-term damage to the U.S. economy as countries, including Canada, start to form trade alliances that exclude the United States.
Larry Short of Short Financial, a branch of iA Private Wealth, cites aluminum as an example of how Canada can benefit from punitive tariffs imposed by the U.S.
He says the United States was previously the biggest market for Canadian aluminum, but a shortage of aluminum around the world, means Canada stands to benefit.
“The aluminum plants are all along the St. Lawrence River, and once you put aluminum on a boat, we can sell it anywhere on the planet.” Short says the second largest consumer of aluminum in the world is Europe “and between Europe and Japan, we can sell our aluminum there.” He says the same of just about any other good or service we want to sell through alternate trade agreements.
He says the United States stands to lose the most from tariffs on Canadian aluminum.
“They have to build (the equivalent of) four Hoover Dams in order to replace the aluminum production that is coming out of Canada. They can’t do it,” says Short. “And they need the aluminum for everything from automobiles to electrical systems, et cetera. So it’s going to be able to replace this.”
