B.C. officials were guarded Wednesday about the impact on Canada of the tariff wall U.S. President Donald Trump erected around the U.S., but it appears it could have been worse.

Trump’s announcement was so incoherent that much of the rest of the world had to scramble to grasp even the basic details. So cabinet ministers begged for more time to check the impacts.

“It’s still very uncertain,” said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who chairs the “war room” committee responsible for countering tariff threats. “It’s hard to make sense from President Trump’s speech.”

Kahlon said the challenge is that tariff policies change hour by hour, “and anything can happen.”

But even with no direct new tariffs on Canada other than a 25 per cent charge on imported cars, which may or may not apply, B.C. is going to feel the impacts, he said.

The NDP’s main response to date has been a controversial bill that grants Premier David Eby and cabinet extraordinary powers to handle any and all economic issues for a two-year period.

The most contentious part of the bill — a section allowing him to bypass the legislature — is being........

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