Officials to meet over possible tariff relief for Ekati Diamond Mine
The meeting follows the company’s request to halt trading on the Australian Securities Exchange
The union representing Ekati Diamond Mine workers will meet on Thursday with the mine’s owner, Burgundy Diamond Mines, and N.W.T. government officials about Burgundy’s request for federal tariff relief funds.
Burgundy, which has about 1,100 employees and contractors currently working at the Ekati site, according to its website, said on Monday that it has been “approved as eligible” for tariff relief funding of up to $150 million.
This doesn’t mean the company will be receiving any money.
The meeting follows the company’s request on Monday for another public trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange, the second such request in the last three months.
The first was followed by the layoff of several hundred workers.
The company says it needs federal tariff-relief money to prop up its operations because India, which is responsible for 90 per cent of diamond manufacturing worldwide, faces steep tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The company is also weathering a global slump in rough diamond values.
The 50 per cent U.S. tariff on Indian imports is having a “profound impact” because the country where a diamond is cut and polished is considered the origin for tariff purposes, said Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond analyst and consultant.
This high tariff on Indian goods imported to the U.S. has shaken the diamond supply chain, compounding the pressures the company felt coming out of the pandemic, he told CBC.
“There’s just not a lot of manufacturers in India that are willing to purchase rough goods now because by the time they cut and polish it, they don’t know what the U.S. tariff on Indian imports is going to be,” he said.
The N.W.T. government has already tried to take pressure off mines, announcing in April 2025, it would lower property taxes paid by mines to the territory.
Premier R.J. Simpson has also met with U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra about how the tariffs are impacting the price and cost of diamonds.
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