The mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B. said there’s solidarity amongst North American municipal leaders following a meeting late last week in Washington, D.C. to discuss the U.S. trade war.
Brittany Merrifield, who is also president of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, was part of Canada’s delegation at the 2025 Mayor’s Trade Summit. The event included over 30 mayors representing the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and a delegation of Mexican mayors.
“We wanted to make sure there was an understanding that not only were these tariffs going to hurt Canadians, but they’re also going to impact hardworking Americans as well in terms of affordability, in terms of jobs losses, all of those things,” said Merrifield, in an interview. “We as local government officials, we’re the first on the ground to feel the fallout of any kind of initiative like this that is going to hurt salaries and affordability for people who live in our communities.”
In a joint statement, all of the mayors urged national leaders to respect existing trade agreements.
“For nearly 30 years, North American trade has provided immense value to all our communities, creating jobs and reducing the cost of living for families,” said the statement. “Our nations have no better trading partners, and when we trade with fair rules – like under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) – all three benefit.
“The escalation of tariffs only raises costs for businesses, workers, and consumers across North America. Tariffs are taxes that increase the cost of living, drain bank accounts, put supply chains and jobs at risk and disrupt the local businesses that drive the economies in all three nations. Our communities will feel the impact first.”
Merrifield said she “didn’t really know what to expect” from U.S. mayors before attending the meeting.
“I knew there were going to be some Republican leaning mayors and Democratic leaning mayors, I wasn’t really sure what the message was going to be from the contingent,” said Merrifield. “But there was a real sense of solidarity in that room, and a recognition that this was going to hurt the people who can least afford to be hurt financially and nobody wants that at all.”
Merrifield said she was impressed by the stateside mayors who spoke out against the tariffs in the face of possible retaliation from the U.S. administration.
“It’s a brave thing to do, because their communities could be at risk because they came out and did that,” said Merrifield.
In addition to Merrifield, Canadian mayors in the delegation included: Toronto mayor Olivia Chow, Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Regina mayor Chad Bachynski, Windsor, O.N. mayor Drew Dilkens, Sturgeon County, A.B. mayor Alanna Hnatiw, Surrey, B.C. mayor Brenda Locke, and Mascouche, Q.C. mayor Guillaume Tremblay.
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