The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is bracing for the long-term economic impacts of tariffs expected to be imposed on goods traded between Canada and the U.S. in early March.

"We can't take our relationship with the U.S. for granted anymore. It is shattered," said Maryse Harvey, president of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.

On Feb. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders to implement a tariff of 25 per cent on Mexican and Canadian goods, that was expected to take effect Feb. 4. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was poised to implement a retaliatory 25 per cent tariff on American goods being imported into Canada. 

Tariffs function as an added tax on goods that transit through a border, ultimately increasing the costs for consumers, explained Harvey.

After negotiations on Feb. 3, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump agreed to delay the tariffs for at least 30 days. 

"While this is good news, we must still be ready to pivot," said Harvey. "We need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. A 30-day reprieve can help us do that."

In addition to preferentially purchasing locally-grown and produced items from Canadian-owned stores to strengthen the national economy, Harvey said that the provincial and federal government must take steps to facilitate inter-provincial trade. 

She added that producers should also look at diversifying the countries they sell to.

The difficulties of inter-provincial trade are exemplified by the challenges the B.C. wine industry faces in selling alcohol to other provinces. When visiting her hometown of Montreal, Harvey finds it challenging to find any Okanagan wines on the shelves of liquor stores, when American and French bottles are comparatively abundant. 

"Inter-provincial trade is a problem we have been ignoring for a long time," said Harvey, adding that if there has ever been a time to abolish the red tape that restricts the flow of goods within Canada, it is now. 

The Chamber of Commerce recently distributed a survey to its members to assess the anticipated outcomes of the looming tariffs.

"Many of them are going to be impacted directly, while others will be impacted indirectly," said Harvey.

Preliminary data from the survey shows that while most people do support a Canadian-imposed retaliatory tariff on American goods, they worry about the impact of a price increase on the products they import. Additionally, not-for-profits worry that donations will decrease with the economic uncertainty of a potential trade war. 

Harvey said businesses such as restaurants, where margins are already slim, may experience hardship as paying tariffs on American-grown foods will drive up prices. 

Additionally, exporters who grow and sell foods like fruit worry that there will be a decrease in demand south of the border, should tariffs be imposed.  

"Exporters are very worried," said Harvey.

, which exports lumber to the U.S. has stated that it faces great uncertainty in the period of tariff limbo.

While the tariffs on the exchange of products between the U.S. and Canada will certainly impact current businesses, it could also deter future investment and growth, said Harvey.