Small biz fear being left behind as Ottawa retaliates in Trump trade war
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — Small businesses are concerned about being left behind as Ottawa returned fire Tuesday in U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war against Canada.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) president Dan Kelly said that while he appreciates the swiftness at which the federal government is moving to match American import levies, he worries small business owners will be overwhelmed by a mishmash of initiatives and programs meant to help them.
“At first glance it looks like small business owners are being served the usual alphabet soup of complicated programs,” he said. “They will be challenging for small business owners to figure out, let alone use.”
Kelly points out that some programs, such as the federal Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) facilitated by Regional Development Agencies, exclude most small businesses from even applying.
“Some required a minimum of $2 million in sales, others a minimum of 10 employees,” Kelly said.
“Today’s announcement doesn’t appear to have changed these thresholds. Unless the thresholds are eliminated entirely, then the government will have failed in its promise to support small business owners. The new U.S. 50% tariff hits even the smallest home-based jewellery maker, so why would our government’s support exclude them?”
Forestry sector welcomes counter-tariffs
On Tuesday, a statement from the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) welcomed Ottawa’s countermeasures.
“The forest sector has been one of the hardest hit sectors in this ongoing trade dispute,” said association CEO Derek Nighbor. “Duties and tariffs on billions of dollars worth of our products now range from 25% to 85%. The addition of Section 338 tariffs over the weekend make immediate federal support essential to help keep facilities operating and employees connected to their places of work.”
New U.S. tariffs, he said, not only put Canadian jobs at risk, but also weaken the American economy.
“July numbers show that while housing starts in Canada were down 4%, they were down 13% in the United States,” he said.
“These tariffs are bad news for the U.S. housing market and for American families.”
Not everyone, however, is in favour of Canada’s counterattack.
Jay Goldberg of the Consumer Choice Center said retaliatory tariffs are the wrong approach.
“It’s important for Canadians to remember that retaliatory tariffs are taxes paid by us, not Americans,” he said.
“Canadians are struggling right now with high food inflation and nearly 50% of Canadians say they’re $200 away from not being able to pay their bills. Making goods more expensive for consumers isn’t the right response to Trump imposing additional taxes on American consumers.”
While he said Canada was right to walk away from the table if the U.S. did indeed limit Canada’s ability to enter into trade agreements with other nations, it doesn’t mean Canada’s next step should have tit-for-tat retaliation.
“Canada’s politicians have been all over U.S. airwaves arguing that tariffs are taxes paid for by domestic consumers,” he said.
“They’re right in making that argument, which is precisely why it would be wrong to impose them here.”
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