B.C. businesses brace for 50 per cent U.S. tariffs as midnight deadline looms

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order threatening to impose 50 per cent tariffs starting midnight, August 19, on a range of goods, potentially impacting about five per cent of Canada's trade with the U.S. The tariff schedule includes home goods such as wallpapers and wall decals, and crucially for B.C., plywood and wood veneers not already dinged by existing U.S. softwood lumber duties.

Blaine Maryniuk, president of West Coast Walls, a small Abbotsford manufacturer that ships 25 to 50 per cent of its sales to the U.S. depending on the month, said the impact would be severe. "I couldn't afford to absorb the tariff and it's doubtful that the customers would be happy paying that additional tariff," he said. "So I'm in a tough spot." Maryniuk is aware Trump has changed his mind on trade measures at the last minute before, but he emphasized he needs certainty: "My products were always under the Free Trade Agreement, and then suddenly they're not. So now if they're not going to be under the Free Trade Agreement, what is the tariff going to be?"

Bhavjit Thandi, chief financial officer of Richmond Plywood, an employee-owned firm, said if the tariff takes effect, "Rich Ply won't be doing any more sales to the U.S. immediately. We can't absorb 50 per cent and the customers on the U.S. side can't pay a 50 per cent increase." Richmond Plywood is luckier than many wood veneer producers—only about 20 per cent of their sales go to the U.S.—but what they sell to American customers tends to be their highest margin products.

Trump cited irritants ranging from Canada's ban on U.S. alcohol in provincial liquor stores to the "discriminatory" Canadian counter tariffs on American cars. The measure sparked Canada to push a renewed round of trade negotiations, including meetings between Canadian International Trade Minister Dominique LeBlanc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney were scheduled to talk about the matter in a last-minute call Tuesday.

Cory Redekop, CEO of the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, said the prospect of 50 per cent tariffs has been anxiety-inducing for his membership, which skews heavily to businesses represented in the tariff schedules. "It's frustrating because it takes so much oxygen out of the room," Redekop said. "So much energy is going into these conversations and reviewing things and counting how much steel is in every product when that money and time and effort could be spent growing businesses."