Canadian small companies personally accept Trump tariffs

On the other side of the US-Tanada border, some small companies take tariffs in person.

President Donald Trump said that his extensive tariffs, even in some of the closest trading partners in the country, would restore international trade balance and restore state production. But for the northern US neighbors, tariffs can mean erosion of trust.

The country's commercial relations with Canada were a historically integral part of both domestic economies. In 2024, the trade in goods between the two nations was USD 762.1 billion. According to the office of the United States sales representative, Canada exported over three quarters of its goods last year, and the US import Half of all the goods he brought.

However, from March, Trump's administration has implemented a 10% tariff for Canadian energy and 25% tariff for other imports from Canada and Mexico, the fee he promised on the day of inauguration. But he released many imports covered by the United States agreement.

Trump also put a 25% tariff on vehicles that are not gathered in the US, which came into force at the beginning of this month, which applies to both Mexico and Canada, two main car centers. In addition, 25% tariff for car parts is following next month.

Canada responded with its own retaliatory tariffs, but the pride of National caused a different type of resistance.

Balzac's Coffee Roasters, a chain of the Cafe in Ontario and Toronto, responded to trade tensions with a renamed menu.

Your independent groceries, a network of independent supermarkets under the Canadian Loblaw companies use their own Maple Leaf badge to indicate products “prepared in Canada”. Food meetings also indicate elements of impact on the tariff with the “T” logo in stores and online.

Corinne Pohlmann is the Vice President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, CFiB, which represents over 100,000 small companies out of 12 of 13 territories and Canada province.

According to the organization's survey, in December 2024, about half of the CFiB members are directly involved in imports or exports from the USA. This record does not include relying on suppliers and clients who also trade with the USA

Over a quarter of CFIB members of the respondents at the end of March reported stronger demand for Canadian products. Over half of the surveyed companies agreed that the US is not a reliable trade partner.

She said that commercial voltages have expanded to some long -term relations between us and Canadian small companies, because entrepreneurs decide which side of the border will consume the costs of new tariffs. Pohlmann reminded some CFiB members, asking for tips on how to renegotiate contracts with partners in the south.

Pohlmann said that tariffs cause emotional stress, in addition to cost increase.

“For many Canadians it seemed to betray,” Pohlmann he said.

The Alcohol Control Council in Ontario suspended the purchases of American products from March 4. The LCBO retail store in Niagara-on-the-Laka displays the marking that reads: “For the good of Ontario, for the good of Canada”, explaining the disappearance of products such as California Wines and Tito's Vodka.

This is not always a clear cut.

The LCBO Press representative explained via the E -Mail to CNBC that every product made in Canada, like the locally produced lightweight Coors beer, is fine for Grace shelves, regardless of the company's ownership.

Molson Coors has production plants in Canada and in the USA

“While we are a global business, our beers and drinks are usually made on the markets where they are sold,” said Rachel Gellman Johnson, senior communication director of Molson Coors.

Tariffs are usually a tool of “hard power”, which causes a geopolitical change through coercion. Many years of US partners, such as Canada, Mexico and Japan, have strengthened the country's influence on the global stage.

In addition to the number, it is the influence of us or the so -called “soft power” that can hit.

The former secretary of state Antony Blinken said Andrew Ross Sorkin from CNBC this month that the hit of the soft power of the country is his greatest fear in today's environment.

“The idea that we will not only see how China is trying to develop more soft power, but that we would say our own … unable to the country, not good for our interests,” said Blinken.

Even if President Trump reduces the tariffs, Canadian companies can hesitate before rebuilding trade relations with American partners. Pohlmann Cfib pointed to lost contracts and eroded trust.

“Although we are satisfied with a constant relief from the tariffs, trade relations between Canada and the United States have been broken and may never be the same” Said Pohlmann.