CFIB response to the U.S. tariffs battle
If we know anything about President Donald Trump, we know that the next four years are going to be a rollercoaster for all of us as he works to up-end Canada’s trading relationship with the U.S. Already this week, 25% tariffs were imposed on Tuesday, adjusted on on Wednesday and significantly scaled back on Thursday. I’ve had to change gears in the middle of live TV interviews as new information is breaking every five minutes.
Canada has responded with a first round of counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with a second round planned for the weeks ahead, but later put on pause.
When we add Canada’s political uncertainty, with a new Liberal Prime Minister taking the reins and an election soon to follow, these are challenging days indeed.
But what I do know is that CFIB is purpose-built for moments like this. Our team will be there to help business owners understand the latest developments, collect and share data with decision makers and lobby for whatever supports businesses may need to get to the other side of the trade war. We recently held an informative webinar to help business owners understand and respond to the changes - Stay ahead of shifts in Canada/U.S. trade.
Moments like these are also good opportunities to make progress on some of the things governments should have been doing all along, like lowering taxes and regulations and addressing long-standing interprovincial trade barriers. Already, we’ve seen fresh commitments to postpone or scrap the hike in capital gains taxes and drop barriers to trade between provinces.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with Canadians fresh resolve to support Canadian businesses. In fact, CFIB has created new signage to promote the fact that your business is Canadian-owned and the importance of shopping locally (view here).
To keep on top of the latest, please bookmark this page cfib.ca/tariffs. We will keep this page up to date with what we know and how we can help. Just as we did during the pandemic, it is our goal to be an indispensable partner to help you navigate the turbulent waters ahead.
In the meantime, your stories on how the tariff issue (either US or Canadian tariffs) are affecting your business can be of significant help to me and the team in explaining the impact on small businesses to governments and the public. Please share them here.
And please feel free to share this note with your fellow business owners.
Finally, if no one has said it recently, thank you for everything you do for your employees, your community and your country. The perseverance of Canada’s independent businesses through tough times continues to inspire me and the entire CFIB team.
Dan Kelly
CFIB President
