Action Areas

Procurement and Supply Chain Policies

Economic and Business Support

Advocacy and Coordination

Trade Diversification and Risk Mitigation

Monitoring and Public Communication

Municipal Action Tracker

 
Don’t see an action your City is pursuing on this table? Let us know! Please email tbeitarie@canurb.org with the action or strategy that you want added to this table.

Procurement and Supply Chain Policies

Procurement and Supply Chain Policies encompass actions and strategies aimed at adjusting or optimizing sourcing, purchasing, and supply chain management. This includes a focus on Buy Local Campaigns, procurement policy changes, and the review of city business.

Economic and Business Support

Economic and Business Support focuses on tools and strategies that calculate the impact of tariffs, provide support for local businesses, and/or economic development initiatives. This category aims to strengthen the economic resilience of local communities by offering targeted resources and guidance to businesses facing trade challenges.

Advocacy and Coordination

Advocacy and Coordination involves Regional Tariff Working Groups, coordinated advocacy with federal/provincial governments, and cross-municipality collaboration. This category focuses on strengthening coordination and advocating for policy changes to ensure regional interests are effectively represented at all levels of government.

Monitoring and Public Communication

Monitoring and Public Communication involves surveys to understand impacts, webinars and trainings for increased public awareness and education, tariff toolkits and one-stop shops, and public reporting on impacts. This category ensures transparency and continuous feedback loops, providing residents, businesses, and all other local actors with the latest data and resources to stay informed and adapt to changes.

Trade Diversification and Risk Mitigation

Trade Diversification and Risk Mitigation includes actions and strategies that develop financial risk mitigation frameworks and seek to increase costs for American companies to help counter tariff impacts. It focuses on expanding trade relationships with alternative markets to reduce reliance on a single economic partner and safeguard against the tariffs and future risks.

Patterns We're Seeing

There is a strong trend across multiple cities to support local businesses through both procurement policies (buying local) and campaigns aimed at bolstering regional economies. This reflects a broader strategy of protecting local businesses from the ripple effects of tariffs. 

Cities are focused on educating businesses and residents about the practical impacts of tariffs. This is reflected in the development of toolkits, online portals, webinars, and surveys designed to gather feedback, assess the impact, and provide actionable insights. 

Many municipalities are collaborating with regional bodies, boards of trade, and industry groups to address tariff impacts. Edmonton's Regional Tariff Ad Hoc Working Group and Ottawa's partnership with local economic partners exemplify this collaborative approach. 

The creation of impact dashboards and data collection efforts, such as Calgary’s Tariff Estimated Exposure Dashboard and the surveys conducted by various boards of trade, shows that cities are using data to understand the extent of tariff impacts and create targeted mitigation strategies.