A major US refining and petrochemical industry group is urging the administration of US president Donald Trump to find a resolution quickly to end tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico beginning today.
Imposing tariffs on energy, refined products and petrochemical imports will not make the US more energy secure or lower costs for consumers, said Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM).
AFPM continues to hope for "a quick resolution" with Canada and Mexico, he said in a statement.
US tariffs against Mexico and Canada went into effect at 12:01am ET today.
Under the executive orders Trump signed a month ago, the US imposed a 10pc tax on Canadian energy imports, a 25pc tariff on non-energy imports from Canada and a 25pc tariff on all imports from Mexico.
The US tariffs have been a major topic at AFPM's annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas this week. Energy executives [said yesterday]https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2663776) that a US tariff war with Canada and Mexico would harm trade and cause gasoline price increases.
"We don't want to see this escalation for any of the three countries," said Kim Foley, vice president of global olefins and polyolefins and refining at LyondellBasell. "It's harmful for the countries' best interests. It's harmful to trade and we think people are going to be very motivated to address it with swift constructive resolution."
Foley made the comments on a panel at the annual meeting shortly before Trump said the tariffs would move forward on Tuesday.
Plains All American chief executive Willie Chiang, also on the AFPM panel, said that North America needs to band together. "Solutions will prevail but near-term it could be very noisy," he said.
If the tariffs are implemented, Canadian crude would still move to the US and consumers would pay a price, Chiang said. Eventually, some kind of resolution would happen, he said.
The tariff issue is a rare disagreement between Trump and AFPM.
