London Mayor equipped with local business input for upcoming tariff talks in Washington D.C.
Stimulus programs for affected businesses, push for interprovincial trade among discussion points
Business and economic leaders from across the London region met with Mayor Josh Morgan Friday ahead of his trip to Washington D.C. next week to push back against tariff threats alongside provincial officials. Morgan called the meeting informative and said it left him well-informed for the trip.
Those in attendance were invited by Morgan from various organizations including local schools, business groups, healthcare networks and more to discuss how best to prepare the London region's economy for the ramifications of a potential trade war with the United States.
"This is the type of conversation that's happening in cities across the country, talking with our local manufacturers, local job creators, local businesses," Morgan said. "We need to hear what they think. We need to feed that information back up through our federal and provincial partners because of the really important work ahead."
The meeting comes less than a week after threats of crushing U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods were postponed until at least March 4 by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Through his role as chair of the Big City Mayors' Caucus, Morgan has been at the forefront of a movement to ensure Canadian municipalities have a seat at the table in responding to the looming threats.
A primary purpose of Friday's meeting was to equip himself with firsthand knowledge ahead of next week's trip, he said.
"I've learned there's a lot of concerns. A lot of people have put a lot of things on pause. Even though tariffs have not come, there's a lot of business decisions already being made because of the uncertainty that's out there, and that's problematic for the progress that we've been making," Morgan said.
The wait-and-see approach many businesses are taking threatens the economic momentum the city has been enjoying recently — something he expects is the case on both sides of the border, he said.
"There's a 30-day reprieve here. That's not a lot of time to make some influence ... and we're going to bring London stories and London information to that approach," Morgan said. He also asked local business leaders about their connections to American cities and industries.
During Friday's meeting the discussion also touched on one of Morgan's previous calls – for cities and businesses to keep their dealings inside the Canadian economy.
It's a call that Steve Pellarin, executive director of the London Small Business Centre, said is an important piece of the response.
"A lot of [small businesses are] still trying to figure out exactly what the impact is going to be. A lot of it is going to come down to them informing and educating themselves on how their supply chains are being impacted, what they can do to minimize that impact," he said.
The chaos represents opportunity to Morgan — along with Pellarin and Kapil Lakhotia, president of the London Economic Development Corporation,
"Whether it's COVID or these geopolitical threats like tariffs, these external economic shocks will continue to happen. So it's important to build a diversified profile," Lakhotia said. "I think there is an appetite for culture change in terms of what can the city do as an establishment to lead the way, and build a stronger local procurement approach."
There are concrete actions the municipal government can take to help businesses if tariffs come, Morgan said. Stimulus payments could be on the table in the future if higher levels of governments would be willing to move in that direction.
"We have an opportunity not just to spend money, but to spend money in a very strategic way that actually boosts and supports Canadian business innovation in a way that maybe we haven't before," the mayor said.
Morgan will travel — equipped with the information he said he's gained from Friday's meeting — with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities representatives and Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11 and 12 to meet with U.S. senators, mayors, and business leaders.
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