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President Trump's tariffs are being felt in just about every part of the world, including Canada. Tariffs have impacted the country's entire economy against the backdrop of a competitive federal election. NPR's Jackie Northam met a group of lobster fishermen in Nova Scotia to find out how the sweeping tariffs are affecting their industry and the country's politics.
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JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: When the weather turns nasty, lobster fishermen here in Clark's Harbour off the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia gather at what they call the barn to chat over coffee and play cards. There's no use going out in weather like this.
MARTY ATWOOD: Too rough, seas is too big. When the sea and the wave get high, lobsters will not move. You just - waste of time.
NORTHAM: The barn belongs to Marty Atwood (ph). He's been a lobster fisherman for more than three decades. He spends slow days like this building new lobster traps.
ATWOOD: When I'm not fishing, I'm in here building stuff to go fishing.
NORTHAM: Atwood grew up in Clark's Harbour. This town of about 800 people would seem to be far removed from the turmoil of President Trump's tariffs. But lobsters were among the goods to be hit with 25% tax when Trump announced his first round of tariffs on Canada in February. Atwood said it was a huge concern.
ATWOOD: Right now, lobster industry drives everything in this community. If you take the prices away, you take the lobster away, you take the whole economy away. It would be crippling.
NORTHAM: Trump later reversed the decision, excluding any products like lobsters that fall under an existing free-trade agreement. But he has kept levies on things like aluminum, steel and energy. Atwood's father Russell (ph) fears lobsters could get hit again because he says Trump is erratic.
RUSSELL: You always got this in the back of your mind. What day does he get up and has a bad day and says, I'm putting 25% tariff on it. So yes, it's a big worry.
NORTHAM: Canada's lobster industry was already facing 25% tariffs by China in retaliation for Ottawa placing levies on Chinese electric vehicles. A U.S. tariff would force Canadian lobster companies to dramatically change their business.
SHAWN SEARS: This is where we store the lobsters.
NORTHAM: Shawn Sears, the owner of W. Sears Seafoods, reaches into a large tank of bubbling cold water and pulls out a glistening lobster. Its claw is held tight with a thick rubber band.
SEARS: Oh, that one's like a 2 1/2 pounder, so not a real big one. The smaller lobsters are actually better eating.
NORTHAM: At high season, Sears' tanks hold about 250,000 pounds of fresh lobster. He ships them to companies in the U.S. It's a highly integrated industry, and both sides would have to pay taxes if Trump reimposes tariffs and Canada retaliates. Sears said he would have to look for new customers.
SEARS: Different parts of Asia, the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and just try to expand the domestic market.
NORTHAM: The uncertainty and worry here in Clark's Harbour is a microcosm of how tariffs are playing out across the rest of Canada.
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NORTHAM: A hundred and sixty miles further east along the coast in Nova Scotia's capital, Halifax, Trump's tariffs were met with disbelief, anger and resentment.
ANDY FILLMORE: One firm, in particular, over a weekend, believe they lost around $25 million worth of business and were facing layoffs of about 170 people.
NORTHAM: Mayor Andy Fillmore says the economic punch was immediate.
FILLMORE: Just from the whisper of this possibility, it changed the business dynamics. People lost confidence. Contracts went away.
NORTHAM: Fillmore says many people in Nova Scotia have close relations with the U.S. and that's what hurt.
FILLMORE: This seemed like friends and family giving us a swat on the nose, completely unexpected and quite - eye-wateringly shocking.
NORTHAM: But it's more than just the tariffs. There was Trump's threat to turn Canada into the 51st state and making fun of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Out of that sprang a nationwide movement to avoid buying American products. Canadians are canceling trips south of the border, and there's a resurgence of national pride in Canada.
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SHAUN MAJUMDER: We are a good neighbor who will still be there for our big brother. But we don't need you anymore, America. I feel like...
NORTHAM: A steady rain outside of Halifax didn't deter people at a recent Elbows Up rally. That's a hockey term - now a popular catchphrase, meaning ready to fight. On stage, comedian Shaun Majumder, who recently moved back to Canada after 20 years in Los Angeles, didn't hold back.
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MAJUMDER: We should ghost America for a little bit.
NORTHAM: Those who braved the rain came out to make a point, like Maggie Simpson (ph).
MAGGIE SIMPSON: Like many people here, just feeling of wanting to stand in solidarity for Canada's sovereignty and the things that we believe in.
NORTHAM: But with an increasing independence comes a recognition that Canada has leaned too heavily on the U.S. for its security.
ROBERT HUISH: We've been very fortunate to be one of the most geographically secure countries in the world. And now we find ourselves as being the most geographically vulnerable.
NORTHAM: Robert Huish is a professor of social sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
HUISH: It's not just Donald Trump is saying, oh, that border should be redrawn. It's also recognizing we are quite vulnerable in the Arctic to Russian aggression. So we do have work to do there for sure.
NORTHAM: Back at the barn in Clark's Harbour, fisherman Marty Atwood is feeling philosophical about Trump's tariffs as he repairs his lobster pots.
ATWOOD: We're kind in this area take things as they come so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
NORTHAM: As will Canada's next prime minister - the federal election is on Monday, and whoever wins will have to wrangle Trump and his unpredictable tariff policy. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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