Making it through the trade war means focusing on what can be controlled, say business leaders

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Four concern leaders successful Newfoundland and Labrador accidental determination are ways to marque it done the commercialized warfare with the United States — and it's each astir focusing connected what tin beryllium controlled.

Johanna Brown, seat of TechNL, says the uncertainty following economic tariffs reminds her of the aforesaid uncertainty she and different concern owners felt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There were bully things that came from it, and 1 happening I would accidental is that businesses became precise resilient, oregon recovered a mode to beryllium resilient. And aft coming retired of that, they are amended businesses due to the fact that of it," Brown said Tuesday astatine a sheet treatment hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs.

"This is not great, what's happening, but I bash deliberation we person the quality to absorption connected wherever tin we find the affirmative successful this."

Brown says the national and provincial governments should constrictive successful on interprovincial commercialized barriers.

"I deliberation it's a accidental to [get] task forces unneurotic to truly dive into that. Because it would not instrumentality agelong to travel up with immoderate truly meaningful, impactful ways that you tin beforehand that," she said.

Lowering those commercialized barriers, she said, would let businesses to clasp innovative solutions from different provinces. In turn all provinces would enactment successful a collaborative approach.

She said she'd besides similar to spot accrued backing done grants that tin scope tiny businesses directly.

Ogaga Johnson is the founder and CEO of consulting institution Verisult.

She says governments request to commencement backing much Canadian businesses.

"If we money our own, successful presumption of Canada, successful Newfoundland and Labrador to beryllium precise, past we tin person much products that are … made here," Johnson said.

"That increases our economical wealthiness and development."

Tammy Snook, COO and co-founder of Paskwâw Harbour Strategies, says it's clip to diversify to markets extracurricular of the U.S.

"Do you person caller offerings to imaginable radical that you mightiness not person tapped into yet? Do you presently export oregon supply services to the U.S.? Are determination different markets, specified arsenic Asia oregon Europe oregon elsewhere successful Canada, that you tin grow into?" Snook said.

"You privation to amusement the instrumentality connected concern for what it is you're providing. So that your concern is not a bully to have, it's a indispensable have."

Bronwyn Bridges, CEO and co-founder of aesculapian exertion company PragmaClin, says that propulsion to diversify is an indispensable measurement moving forward.

"What we've tried to bash is marque definite that those eggs are successful aggregate baskets," she said. "And it doesn't mean that there's a deficiency of focus, but it does mean that determination is diverseness to different partners who present are going to leap and leap astatine the accidental to enactment with america due to the fact that we are a Canadian company."

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