'The trust is gone': Ontario business and labour look for new partners as U.S. trade war continues

Shawn Jeffords · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The harm done by Donald Trump's chaotic tariff warfare has Ontario businesses looking for caller trading partners and allies, successful the midst of heavy uncertainty caused by the conflict.

That's according to groups representing businesses and workers crossed the province, who accidental 1 of the astir profound impacts of the U.S. president's scatter-shot attack has been to undermine decades of spot built betwixt the 2 countries.

The uncertainty has meant businesses crossed the state are present readying with an oculus to Trump's mercurial behaviour, said Ontario Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Tisch.

"The White House has shown itself to beryllium unreliable, untrustworthy and uncoordinated," helium said. "I deliberation the interest is that adjacent if we bash get to a woody … there's nary warrant that aboriginal successful his term, the president won't crook connected america again." 

Trump has agelong been a proponent of tariffs arsenic a mode to rise gross for the United States and re-shore manufacturing jobs. Since taking bureau successful January helium has threatened to enforce 25 per cent tariffs connected astir Canadian goods, a determination critics reason volition dramatically summation prices for American consumers portion hurting businesses connected some sides of the border.

Trump besides pushed up with immoderate tariffs earlier this week, including sweeping 25 per cent charges connected alloy and aluminum.

WATCH | Trump says helium won't crook connected tariffs: 

Trump threats and backtracks sow seeds of doubt

Tisch said Trump's threats and consequent backtracks on many of the tariffs person sowed seeds of uncertainty wrong galore Canadian businesses. They're holding disconnected investments, uncovering caller trading partners extracurricular of America and laying disconnected workers. 

"You're already seeing Canadian businesses look for caller partners successful Europe, successful Asia and Latin America, wherever we person commercialized agreements and we person countries that really worth the alliances with us," helium said,

Tisch said the U.S. volition stay Canada's largest trading partner, truthful stableness indispensable beryllium achieved by renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada escaped commercialized agreement. 

"But astatine the aforesaid time, we request to guarantee that we're ne'er this susceptible again, and that means diversifying trading relationships with different markets and gathering caller alliances," helium said.

Canadian crystal pick company, Chapman's, told CBC News Networks earlier this week that it has already breached ties with immoderate long-time U.S. suppliers due to the fact that of rising costs. 

"It's unfortunate, immoderate of these companies we've been doing concern with for implicit 30 years, and if anything, we're incredibly loyal to these suppliers," Ashley Chapman, the company's main operating officer, said successful an interrogation with CBC's Heather Hiscox.

"It's devastating for some sides of the border."

Canada has to bash things differently, Unifor pres says

Unifor National President Lana Payne said she thinks 1 of the aboriginal casualties of Trump's commercialized warfare has been a long-standing bully narration betwixt the U.S. and Canada.

"I deliberation we've each travel to the knowing that adjacent if we bash enactment retired a commercialized agreement, the spot is gone," Payne said. "Canada has to bash things differently. It's a elephantine aftermath up call."

Payne said the national and provincial governments indispensable rotation retired promised programs to assistance businesses modulation to caller commercialized arrangements with different countries and walk billions connected nationalist infrastructure projects, giving that enactment lone to Canadian firms. 

"We cognize that our cities request transit," she said. "We tin physique that transit close present successful Canada. We tin get connected with doing a batch of this close now."

WATCH: How Ontario businesses are managing the uncertainty of Trump: 

Manufacturers feeling 'exhaustion and frustration'

Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said members of that enactment are feeling "exhaustion and frustration" with the situation, and the historical commercialized agreements person been moving for businesses crossed North America.

"This is idiosyncratic trying to lick a occupation that doesn't exist," helium said of Trump.

Darby said the uncertainty introduced by the Trump tariffs means the state volition request to bash much to not lone teardrop down interprovincial commercialized barriers to assistance manufacturers, but indispensable physique a much extended proscription web from coast-to-coast to marque commercialized successful Canada easier. 

"The immense bulk of those proscription networks spell north-south," helium said. "We person to commencement reasoning astir however to spell east-west again."

But Darby said it has taken decades to physique the existent commercialized relationships and integrated accumulation strategy betwixt Canada and the U.S., and efforts to determination distant from it volition instrumentality decades more. 

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said its members person tried to stockpile non-perishable inventory to debar the tariffs, but that isn't ever an option. Others are looking for caller suppliers oregon customers successful planetary markets which volition instrumentality months oregon years.

"I deliberation galore are inactive struggling a small spot to recognize what their options are," said Corinne Pohlmann, CFIB's executive vice president for advocacy. 

The CFIB wants to spot the wealth raised by retaliatory tariffs directed backmost to businesses successful the signifier of taxation cuts oregon breaks to assistance trim costs. The federation is oncerned that different circular of concern loans akin to those utilized during the pandemic volition conscionable heap much costs connected businesses down the road, Pohlmann said.

"Many businesses are inactive carrying COVID indebtedness and are not arsenic keen to instrumentality connected more," she said. "So, what tin we assistance them with contiguous that volition get them done this hump and assistance them modulation to different markets?"