Manitoba businesses brace for impact of Canadian counter

Manitoba businesses brace for impact of Canadian counter-tariffs

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Manitoba-based businesses are bracing for the impact of new Canadian counter-tariffs on products from the United States that they buy, including steel and aluminum, seafood and cheese.

In a move that’s not sitting well with some, duties will be applied to a long list of items after Labour Day and will, in some cases, mean higher prices for Canadian consumers.

“We’re just trying to sort out what will be tariffed coming to Canada and how it will affect our customers in particular,” said Tom De Nardi, president of Winnipeg-based Mondo Foods, which imports some cheeses from the U.S. and distributes them within Canada.

The federal government on Tuesday announced the dollar-for-dollar countermeasures will take effect Sept. 8 as of 12:01 a.m. on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. goods.

It’s in response to 50 per cent tariffs imposed on close to $30 billion of Canadian goods, which took effect Aug. 22 when trade talks collapsed.

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Some cheese products coming from south of the border will be hit with a 25 per cent tariff, said De Nardi, who also runs La Grotta Mediterranean Market in Winnipeg.

“Any sort of fresh cheese you might’ve got from the States — fresh mozz[arella], burratas, Parmesan, provolone and other cheeses … banded Wisconsin cheddar,” he told CBC Up To Speed host Faith Fundal. “These type of things are now going to have a 25 per cent tariff on top of the price the importer would’ve brought it in for.”

In an effort to protect domestic producers, Canada's supply management system places hefty tariffs on some products, while allowing limited amounts of certain other foreign dairy imports.

Certain amounts of cheeses are among those that have been allowed into the country duty-free under a quota system.

De Nardi said the new counter-tariffs on imported cheeses, which he says gives people a variety of choices to pick from, will hurt the end buyer.

“Unfortunately that will just make the cost more for the consumer,” De Nardi said.

The federal government said one of the goals of the counter-tariffs is to make industries affected by U.S. tariffs more competitive against U.S. products in the Canadian market.

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A proposed trade deal with the U.S. fell apart last Friday, with the federal government saying the terms were not in Canada’s best interests.

Negotiators walked away from talks after the Trump administration introduced late demands on culture, automobiles and sovereignty.

'We’re stuck paying the tariffs'

Raynald Pambrun understands the reason, but that doesn’t make it any easier for him to accept.

“It was disappointing,” he said of the counter-tariffs.

He runs a company called Raysolar out of Winnipeg and Kenora, Ont., which sets up solar energy systems for homes, cottages and remote buildings.

“There’s some products that we cannot go without,” Pambrun said. “So we’re stuck paying the tariffs.”

Components of their systems come from south of the border, he said, and electronics are among the U.S. products that will be hit with Canadian counter-tariffs.

“Our exports, roughly, are about 20 per cent. Most of them are pretty isolated, but it’s the countermeasures on the dollar-for-dollar, say, on electronic equipment, that’s where it’s going to cost us more,” Pambrun told Radio-Canada in an interview Tuesday from his office in Kenora.

Pambrun said if there’s no deal between the two countries, it will affect more than just him, his company and his employees. He’s concerned about the broader impact on Canada’s economy.

“It’s been a tough road for a lot of small businesses,” Pambrun said. “I’m fortunate I’m still here but I have colleagues who ran restaurants. We had to go through COVID, which was not that long ago.”

While announcing the counter-tariffs, the federal government also introduced a $7.5-billion package of tariff relief measures for businesses and workers.

As for De Nardi, he suspects people will continue buying imported cheeses even if the price goes up.

Josh Crabb has been a reporter at CBC Manitoba since January 2023. He started reporting in 2005 at CKX-TV in Brandon, Man. After spending three years working in television in Red Deer, Alta., Josh returned to Manitoba in 2010 and has been covering stories across the province and in Winnipeg ever since.

With files from Radio-Canada's Maggie Wilcox and CBC's Faith Fundal