‘Considerable uncertainty’: Manitoba businesses worried about tariff impacts

CTV’s Jeff Keele has more on how tariffs scheduled to come next week could impact Manitoba businesses.

Organizations representing Manitoba businesses say their members are worried about the impact of tariffs on Canadian products.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy, will be coming into effect on March 4.

“The threat of possible tariffs over the last several weeks has caused considerable uncertainty for business owners across the entire country, including here in Manitoba,” said Elisabeth Saftiuk, vice-president of policy and government relations with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce.

Saftiuk said businesses could weather the storm from tariffs in the short term, but long-term, it would have a significant impact.

“Businesses are anxious because the tariffs would lead to increased costs for consumers, the potential for job losses, and, because of lost revenues, the need for businesses to find internal cost savings,” she said.

Farmery Brewing is one of the businesses that would see an impact from the tariffs, specifically due to aluminum cans, as those are made in the United States.

“There are sources overseas, but that takes a longer time, and with freight rates and stuff, everything has ripple effects,” said co-owner Chris Warwaruk. “And that’s what is kind of unnerving about these tariffs; we don’t know how much we can absorb and how much we can pass on, but it’s not going to be good for the consumer.”

The threat of tariffs could lead to changes to interprovincial trade across Canada, something the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is long overdue.

“If we want to protect ourselves against the threats of external trade barriers, then we need to focus on what’s going on within our own borders,” said Brianna Solberg, director of legislative affairs for the Prairies and the North with the CFIB.

“And I know right now we’ve heard from small business owners in Manitoba who say it’s in many cases easier to ship goods internationally than it is across the border to Saskatchewan or to Ontario, just because of all of these restrictions and legislative requirements that exist.”

Solberg said right now, there is strong political will towards breaking down barriers to trade between provinces, and it’s up to governments to do so. She said Manitoba currently is one of the better provinces in Canada in terms of allowing products from other provinces.

-With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele.