‘Zero dollars so far’

The City of Winnipeg hasn’t counted any direct cost increases from tariffs just yet, but may be paying a hidden tab.

During a finance committee meeting on Friday, chief financial officer Tracy Graham said a tracking system is in place to note any charge the city has paid on products it directly imports.

“(It’s) zero dollars so far. We are tracking it,” said Graham.

The CFO said the city is also tracking costs where its contractors import material from the U.S. but hasn’t seen clear cost hikes on that end yet.

“The counter-tariffs that Canada has imposed (haven’t) really affected too many of the things that we’re directly purchasing from the U.S. yet… Our exposure on direct purchases was (expected to be) less than one per cent of our (spending)… on anything that we purchased directly from the U.S.,” said Graham.

As examples, she noted the city regularly buys chemicals from the U.S. that are not subject to tariffs and has a locked-in price on bus purchases made so far.

Graham said rapid changes in the amount of tariffs charged by the U.S. and responding counter-tariffs have calmed down recently, no longer changing “by the minute.”

She said the city has also required new contractors to investigate alternatives to products to avoid tariff hikes wherever possible.

Graham told the committee that city staff are also scrutinizing company claims that import charges forced them to raise their prices.

“What we are seeing are some opportunistic companies that are crying tariff as a reason to increase prices and we have a pretty good network internally to make sure that we double-check those and make sure that they prove their claims,” she said.

City council’s finance chairman said some tariffs could be absorbed in overall product prices, so the city is likely paying hidden costs.

“It’s probably being rolled into the prices of different things that we’re buying… It may not be blatantly obvious that there’s a tariff involved in the purchase of something because it was an input cost to making something,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan).

“Sometimes it’s not going to be quite as visible,” he said.

It’s also not clear what impact tariffs will have on the price of the city’s capital projects.

In April, city officials estimated tariffs and counter-tariffs could raise the city’s annual capital spending by about 2.1 to 2.4 per cent. A 2.3 per cent increase would cost the city $11.5 million more per $500 million of capital spending.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga