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A new wave of U.S. tariffs threaten Canadian businesses if no Canada-U.S. trade deal is reached. Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act could affect $20 billion in Canadian goods, from electronics to furniture to orchids.
CBC photographer Evan Mitsui visited an orchid greenhouse and furniture maker in Ontario this week to discuss their concerns.
Guann Chen is a third-generation orchid farmer with a massive, brand new greenhouse complex in St. Catharines, Ont., in the heart of Niagara’s greenhouse belt.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
His Orchid Greens plants are sold in grocery giants Loblaws, T&T and Metro, as well as in dozens of nurseries and flower shops across Ontario. But nearly half of what he grows is for the U.S. market.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
For the co-owner, a levy on Canadian-grown plants represents an existential threat to a business built to serve American demand. Proximity to the border and the vast U.S. market is key for perishable goods like orchids, allowing the Niagara region (and the town of Leamington to the southwest) to concentrate decades of greenhouse growing expertise into an export industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
For Chen, the tariffs don’t make sense, even though there are other, even bigger orchid operations in California. “Orchids take years to grow, so you can’t just, overnight, switch suppliers,” he said on Thursday. “They haven’t thought it through.”
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
‘It’s the uncertainty that’s killing us’: furniture maker
Lind Furniture has been making upholstered furniture for nearly 60 years in Woodbridge, Ont. Over the decades, its clients included Sears, Eaton’s and Simpsons — some of the biggest Canadian department stores in their day.
Nowadays, Lind white-labels for Costco (sofas ordered through Costco.ca are made here). Despite this major partnership, as much as 40 per cent of its business is in cross-border trade with middle- and small-scale retailers across the United States.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
General manager Michael Saifer, who has run the place for nearly 30 years, says even without the effects of this new wave of tariffs, damage has already been done. “It’s the uncertainty that’s killing us,” Saifer said on Wednesday.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Orders on hold
Clients in this business need supply, and even a medium-sized retail chain can’t afford to shell out $100,000 for an order that could get hung up at the border and taxed. So the orders are on hold. Saifer says he’s had to furlough staff and drop a shift.
The price of components — like steel fasteners and hard woods that Saifer says are the pride of his business — have already gone up.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
