A program announced this week to help some Canadian companies that face the expensive counter-tarifas may not be enough to completely save some damage manufacturing companies, observers say. And one of those companies in the rural area of Manitoba is already feeling the bite.
Since the commercial war with the United States exploded last month, the manufacture of fibers has been paying “tens of thousands of dollars per week” in rates, according to the CEO Derek Friesen, for the necessary materials to make its agricultural and crop care equipment, since the company does not have Canadian or non -American providers accessible for some of its most critical parts.
“It’s not something you can change very fast,” said Friese. His company, based in Crystal City, Man., Has an installation less than 200 kilometers southwest of Winnipeg. While many of the components used in Canada, large tanks of plastic water and other material from the United States must import.
“Actually there is only one manufacturer who is doing that for us,” he told CBC News, and finding a Canadian alternative would probably take more than a year.
Therefore, it was “exciting,” said Friesen, when Ottawa on Tuesday announced a temporary exemption from those counter-toarance for the goods used in Canadian manufacturing, food and drink containers or for imports used to support medical care, public safety and national security.
The six -month exemption goes back to March 4, according to the Finance Department. This is additional to other Programs that could allow some companies to avoid the case -by -case basis.
But for fiber, he says, relief may not be long enough, because the central problem remains unless tariffs are completely lifted. There is no way for him to quickly and affordable the rates with the rate while operating a manufacturing plant treated by Canadians in the rural areas of Manitoba.
“There are simply no options for us that can make faster from 14 to 18 months,” he said. “An entire can of worms opened.”
The company has already suspended production for a while and, like other manufacturers, is still struggling to make contingency plans until costs can stabilize or go down.
For some importers, the exemption “will make a big difference,” said Greg Timm, president and CEO of PCB Global Trade Management, a personalized brokerage based in British Columbia.
“We have had our neighbor to the south to buy most of our products. I think it is time for us to see in other places and diversify our markets,” he said.
Timm says that many of his clients felt relieved when they hear that they have more time to solve what they will do next.
Even before Donald Trump began to sit tariffs, he says that the paperwork for importers was “quite complicated,” he said.
“There are rules of origin that must be tested. There are evaluation processes and formulas that must be determined … it is not for someone who only tries to do it outside the side of their desk in a napkin.”
The commercial war has worsened a complicated situation, for one of these clients in particular.
This customer “made a contractual purchase for machine parts worth $ 8 million,” in September. “They were contractually bought to buy this team,” he said.
“Then the tariff environment hit. They are now trying to discover how 25 percent or $ 2 million in additional taxes are going to pay.”
He says that Ottawa exemptions could help, but that federal officials would probably still expect that company to try to find Canadian products not aimed at future transactions.
Everything is a cautious business environment, but Timm expects Canadian companies to eventually achieve it.
“Business will continue, Canadians will consume. We are still going to eat and we are still going to do things. So we have to find a way to overcome this,” he said.
But for fiber, uncertainty continues to weigh a lot in the owner’s mind, even with a six -month pause.
“Most manufacturers have been quite stressed,” said Frieen.
“I think the difficult thing is that it is so unpredictable.”
