U.S. President Donald Trump says a 25 per cent tariff will be placed on imports from Canada and Mexico starting on Tuesday, but industry leaders in the Region Waterloo are taking it all in stride.
“We’re pretty chill from the standpoint of, let’s see what actually happens tomorrow and then we’ll respond accordingly,” said Tony LaMantia, president and CEO of Waterloo EDC. “We’ll look for federal, provincial guidance in terms of policy response. If we need to in future there will be permanent responses as well, like support for companies, that kind of thing.”
In the meantime, Waterloo EDC has prepared different working groups to help local businesses deal with any fallout from the U.S. tariffs.
“[It’s] definitely a concern, but we got to focus on what’s in our control,” LaMantia said.
According to the organization, about one in every five jobs across Waterloo Region is categorized as manufacturing, making it one of the most trade-exposed regions in the country.
But LaMantia said there is also a silver lining to the U.S. tariffs, including an increase in local tourism, production of more Made-in-Canada products and diversifications of exports.
“We’ve really got to get our act together on a range of fronts. And so maybe this is the kick in the pants that that everybody needed,” LaMantia said.
One company taking action is Athletica Sports Systems in Waterloo, which manufactures arena boards for all levels of hockey, including the NHL and other sports. It currently does about 60 per cent of its business in the U.S. and is working to expand into other countries.
“With the situation in the U.S., we have advanced our focus on the European market as a substitute, however it is a much more fragmented market, requiring many additional partners to be successful,” explained Andrew McRae, Athletica’s CEO, in an email to CTV News. “We lived through [a] Trump [presidency] once before, and we can adjust our business models to deal with these issues again reflecting a new business normal.”
Tepperman’s, a Canadian furniture company, has also been busy arranging deals with other countries, while also negotiating subsidies with U.S. businesses that they’ve been dealing with for almost a century.
“I wish we knew what the tariffs were going to be,” said company President Andrew Tepperman. “If it’s 10 percent, we could figure it out much easier. If it’s 25 per cent, we would be shifting a lot of the United States [business].”
He thinks that tariffs could permanently change how Canada does business with the U.S., while some prices may increase under a weaker Canadian dollar.
“I don’t think they realize what they’re doing right now,” Tepperman said. “They’re forcing us to change our supply chain outside of them right now.”
CTV News also reached out to Toyota Canada to get their reaction to the tariffs.
In a statement they said: “While this is still a highly fluid situation, we have no plans to change our production within the foreseeable future. Our vehicles are in high demand, and we will continue to build to plan. At the same time, we will continue to work with our federal and provincial governments toward a sustainable solution.”
