West Kelowna says it buys virtually everything from Canadian suppliers

City buys 99.6% Canadian

Photo: Castanet file

The City of West Kelowna says it buys 99.6% Canadian.

It turns out, West Kelowna was buying Canadian before it became the thing to do in light of U.S. tariffs.

According to the city, a review it conducted of its 2023 and 2024 purchasing showed 99.6% of its purchases were from Canadian suppliers, with only 0.4% from U.S. suppliers.

The city says it has also reviewed its capital budget for 2025 and 2026, as well as carry forward projects from previous years, and as a result is projecting less than a 7% risk of price escalation due to tariffs.

“In particular, considering recent budgetary fleet orders and two fire truck chassis under construction in the U.S., there are no retaliatory tariffs on trucks and there is no indication whether or not these may be applied in the future.”

In a report updating the impact of tariffs on West Kelowna, prepared by the city’s finance director Warren Everton, city council is told, “It’s important to note Canadian retaliatory tariffs are not a direct concern for municipalities as U.S. tariffs only affect U.S. buyers of foreign goods.”

But, it adds, it is also important to point out West Kelowna companies that export products to the U.S. are directly affected by U.S. tariffs.

“Any market loss would directly impact these businesses and their employees,” says Everton in the report.

West Kelowna's biggest employer, the Gorman Bros. mill, is now dealing with U.S. softwood lumber duties of nearly 35%.

In February, the U.S. applied tariffs to all Canadian non-US-Mexico-Canada Agreement products at 25%, as well as 10% on energy and potash. In April, it applied a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, following that up with a 25% tariff on all Canadian-made automobiles.

On March 4, Canada, in retaliation, applied 25% tariffs on many US consumer goods, including food, beverages, clothing and household electronic goods. Nine days later it expanded the retaliatory tariffs to include steel aluminum, gold, platinum, ceramics, piping, tools, appliances, heating, telephony and wireless network products among others.

Canada also imposed a 25% tariff on non-USMCA-compliant US-made vehicles and on non-Canadian, non-Mexican content of the USMCA-compliant US-made vehicles.