Small Businesses vs. Trade War: Canadians Coming Together as a Community

Canadians coming together to protest (Justin Tang)

Within the past few months, Canadian patriotism has risen tremendously as citizens have come together in a collective effort to boycott American goods in support of their home country. On March 4, 2025, President Donald Trump placed 25% tariffs, or taxes placed on imports, on all goods imported from Canada (as well as imports from Mexico). These tariffs, also known as levies, were created to discourage American businesses from buying international goods, as the tax is paid by whoever is importing. By continuing his efforts to increase American domestic manufacturing, Trump has consequently created tensions with an extremely close ally. The President’s decision quickly caused a disconnect between the United States and Canada, prompting the current trade war, which intensifies and worsens every day.

The current round of tariffs began when the Trump administration placed taxes on all imported Canadian goods in the beginning of March, causing an upset within the targeted country. According to The White House, he decided to place tariffs in order to “level the playing field for American workers and businesses.” While this may be seen as a beneficial tactic for the American economy, it has instead created new tensions between the two countries, forcing Canada to join together as a nation to fight back. In retaliation against the United States, the Canadian government placed 25% tariffs on a large variety of American products, ranging from makeup to motorcycles. This trade war has continued to grow throughout March and April, now with both countries targeting steel, aluminum, and electricity. Throughout the implementation of new levies, with the United States placing new 25% tariffs on auto parts on April 3rd, the Canadian government has been clear about their intentions. The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, states the country’s goals during this tariff exchange: “we will fight these tariffs, protect our workers, and build the strongest economy in the G7.” Through all of the economic hardships that the United States’ government has placed on them, Canada’s ability to stay optimistic has the opportunity to help sustain their economy throughout this seeming crisis. It is evident that they have stayed true to their claims, as they continue to retaliate against the new auto part tariffs, implementing 25% tariffs on April 9th against all automobiles made by the United States.

The reaction from Canadian business owners has been one filled with frustration and grief for what could have been. Canadian businesses like Dainty Foods, Nature’s Path, and The Naked Leaf, have been directly affected by the U.S. tariffs, as they now reconsider whether they will have a future. Since American customers make up a large part of their markets, these business owners have been forced to remarket themselves and rely strongly on their domestic consumers. Dainty Foods, for example, was planning on expanding themselves to the border of Detroit– this was soon set back with the implementation of the tariffs. It is extremely likely that this expansion would have grown their profits tremendously, as American customers would have had easier access to the products.

The confidence of these small businesses has declined tremendously: the Canadian Small Business Barometer index, or the survey of companies’ confidence levels, has dropped to 25, which is the lowest it has been since 2000. As these confidence levels continue to drop with the implementation of tariffs, the small businesses will reduce production and investment, potentially causing business failure. With more companies pulling back on production, it is very possible that the Canadian economy could slow down and with less people being hired unemployment could rise. Within this sector, Blume, a Canadian small skin care business started up by two sisters, Bunny and Taran Ghatora, has promoted the importance of supporting companies like themselves during this time. In a February Instagram post, Blume captioned, “Small businesses have endured SO much these past few years - supply chain issues, rising costs and now tariffs. Your support has helped us through it all.” They encouraged their customers to not only support them, but to also continue spreading the word about buying from small businesses, even if they are not able to purchase any products at this time.

Advertisement in a Canadian grocery store (AP News)

As small firms continue to be affected by the current and threatened future tariffs, about 60% report that they have received too little demand, causing owners to worry that their businesses will suffer. In order to raise morale and continue the survival of the Canadian small business market, Canadian citizens are coming together to support and buy from them. Through these very unfortunate events, Canadians have joined as a community to boycott American goods, refusing to let the United States government’s decisions control them. Both online and in-store shopping behavior has changed, as shown by a market research survey by Leger that states 68% of Canadians have limited their consumption of American products since the tariffs were placed and 71% are deciding to increase consumption of Canadian-made goods. As these hard times push small business owners into panic-mode, the formation of a unified community within Canada’s consumer market has shown that the nation has the potential to stay resilient and provide their internal support.