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Gov. Brian Kemp this week is visiting an annual conclave of Southern states and Canadian provinces, reinforcing Georgia’s ties with its top customer as the neighboring nations spar over tariffs.
The annual SEUS/CP alliance conference June 8-10 in New Brunswick comes less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled his steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent, prompting Canada to telegraph further retaliation against its top trading partner and ally.
While trade remained in the headlines, Mr. Kemp seemed to be more focused on investment as he met before the conference with job creators from Canada that have put down roots in the state.
“As it has been for all of his economic development missions, the purpose of Gov. Kemp’s visit to Canada is to deepen relationships with our existing partners and promote Georgia as the best option for those who may be looking to expand their operations to or in America,” Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas told Global Atlanta in an email.
Yesterday, I welcomed Governor @BrianKempGA from Georgia, Chair of the Republican Governors Association, to Queen’s Park. We discussed the many ways that Canada and the U.S. are stronger when we work together, including by building out Am-Can critical mineral supply chains. pic.twitter.com/eAes4oVgLT
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) June 7, 2025
Accompanied by Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson and First Lady Marty Kemp, the governor began his mission June 7, a day before SEUS, with a visit to Toronto, where he met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a staunch critic of Mr. Trump’s tariffs and threats to annex Canada as the 51st state. The two leaders exchanged ideas and footballs.
Mr. Kemp also dropped in on Anatolia Tile and Stone, a tile manufacturer that employs 135 in a $98 million Savannah distribution center that opened in 2019, with Mr. Kemp promising “more jobs on the way” on X.
The governor then headed to Saint John, New Brunswick, where the SEUS event officially kicked off June 8. Always a forum for premiers and governors to rub shoulders, Mr. Kemp met with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt before explaining what he called the “the Georgia Way” to prospective investors.
It was the second Kemp appearance at SEUS/CP in three years. He helped inaugurate the 2023 edition when it returned to Savannah after launching there 15 years earlier. The governor skipped last year’s edition in Newfoundland and Labrador, when Attorney General Chris Carr, now a gubernatorial hopeful himself, led the Georgia delegation.
This week, with Georgia trade team in tow, Mr. Kemp visited J.D. Irving Ltd., the family-owned New Brunswick conglomerate that will soon have plowed nearly $1.5 billion into the Irving Tissue factory in Macon since 2019. A third phase announced in 2024 includes another 100-job commitment that will bring the plant’s employment to about 500.
Irving was also one of the “anchor companies” that open their doors to buying opportunities meetings with smaller firms during the B2B matchmaking segment of the conference, a hallmark since its founding.
These moves underscored tangible business cooperation as tariff tension loomed over the bilateral relationship.
Canada was Georgia’s largest customer in 2024, buying $7.4 billion in products from the state. It fell out of the top five as a source of imports, however, as purchases ramped up from other markets.
Since Mr. Trump first floated a blanket 25 percent tariff on Canada in February, the country has met each American salvo with its own measures.
While that initial tariff was delayed for USMCA-compliant products, Mr. Trump went ahead with 25 percent levies on Canadian cars and metals. Canada answered with the same rate on two separate tranches of about $30 billion in U.S. goods, as well as its own auto tariffs, with some exceptions designed to lessen the impact for Canadian firms relying on U.S. inputs.
On June 3, Mr. Trump upped the ante again by doubling the global steel and aluminum tariff rate to 50 percent, prompting Canada to telegraph further retaliation under new Prime Minister Mark Carney.
SEUS/CP launched in 2007 in Montreal, holding its first meeting the following year in Savannah. The alliance of six states and provinces was designed to institutionalize collaboration at the sub-national level, fostering tangible opportunities for smaller firms while giving government officials a forum for discussion.
On the Canadian side, participating provinces include the powerhouses of Ontario and Quebec in addition to the four Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfound and Labrador, each of which has pursued its their ties with Georgia in tech, trade, agriculture and other sectors in recent years.
Learn about this year’s host, New Brunswick:
Why is SEUS/CP important particularly at this moment of tension? Two reflections:
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