Dilkens’s Border Mayors Alliance condemns ‘unpredictable’ U.S. tariffs

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A group of Canadian mayors helmed by Windsor’s Drew Dilkens is seeking different municipal procurement options amid unpredictable U.S. tariffs it calls a “plague on healthy economies.”

In an open letter on Wednesday, the Border Mayors Alliance said it has begun to identify “alternative procurement and supply chains to mitigate disruptions” caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

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This week, Trump slapped a 25 per cent levy on Canadian steel and aluminum entering the U.S., “affecting an industry deeply integrated in cross-border trade and vital to the economies of many of our border communities,” the mayors alliance wrote. Those tariffs followed a slew of tariff threats, pauses, and retractions that have given Canadians whiplash.

“The uncertainty has tangible and detrimental effects on the livelihoods of our families on both sides of the border,” the mayors said. “In this time, we must have clarity, or we simply cannot act.”

The Border Mayors Alliance now consists of 40 mayors across Canada. Dilkens is the group’s chair.

Following an unrelated news conference at city hall on Thursday, Dilkens told reporters he met this week with the mayors of Warren and Lansing, MI, to discuss the impact of tariffs on Canadian cities.

“We continue to develop allies and build allies,” Dilkens said. “I haven’t once had a mayor yet who has said to me, ‘I think you’re off base, I support President Trump’s policy.’ They all understand the negative consequence to their community, and what it will mean for both business and residents in their communities. It’s not a good outcome.

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