Winnipeg's small businesses worry about increased costs and lower profits due to tariffs

Zubina Ahmed · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 11:24 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Small concern owners successful Winnipeg are acrophobic astir accrued costs and uncertainty implicit U.S. President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs connected Canadian goods.

The tariffs that came into effect Tuesday, and the retaliatory tariffs Canada has enactment successful place, volition marque costs spell up and income spell down, immoderate said.

Winnipeg mother-and-son duo Béla and Ildiko Gyarmati, the founders of Mermaid Cove Cosmetics, an eco-conscious cosmetic line, said section businesses are disproportionately impacted by the tariffs due to the fact that they person smaller margins. 

"Smaller concern can't sorb the costs of the ostentation from this arsenic easily," Béla Gyarmati said.

Gyarmati said 28 per cent of their orders implicit the past play were from the U.S.

And portion they manufacture their products successful Canada, astir of their packaging materials are from the U.S., which is present shifting.

"We've overhauled our supply-chain absorption to exclusively root our packaging each locally wrong Winnipeg oregon Manitoba."

Three of Mermaid Cove's products were successful the nominee acquisition bags astatine the 97th yearly Academy Awards connected March 2. 

"Our concern has taken disconnected since the Oscars, " Gyarmati said. "It was a precise arrogant infinitesimal for my mom."

While determination is immoderate fearfulness they'll suffer their American customers, they volition present absorption much connected the section market.

"Things are changing daily, truthful we are trying to enactment connected apical of everything arsenic overmuch arsenic we can."

Michelle Leclair, who owns Wolseley Kombucha, said they're affected by counter-tariffs due to the fact that each of their bottles travel from and done the U.S.

"Some travel from the U.S., immoderate travel done the U.S. from China," she said. "Our supplier volition get them from the champion supplier they can."

Their vessel orders are worthy thousands of dollars.

A 25 per cent counter-tariff instantly raises that outgo 25 per cent, "which is simply a batch connected single-use packaging," Leclair said.

"The grab-and-go bottles are astir 40 per cent of our concern and margins are tight. So if it goes up 25 per cent, that's eating 25 per cent of our bottommost enactment for that product, which is simply a lot." 

They person yet to person a gathering astir their champion option, but they mightiness look astatine suppliers from China oregon Mexico to support that outgo low. 

"The lone happening successful sourcing straight from China, typically the minimum bid quantity is simply a lot, truthful we mightiness person to look astatine getting immoderate much retention to store each the other bottles."

Christine Merasty, proprietor of Indigenous acquisition store Dene Cree Designs, said they export astir 3 per cent of their products to the U.S.

"It's imaginable we volition suffer those customers arsenic it volition beryllium costly for them to bring our products crossed the border," Merasty said.

Her concern besides imports regalia accessory kits, purses and bags from the U.S.

"I could perchance fto spell of lines of products that we already transportation and past possibly commencement purchasing thing different, thing local."

She'll cognize the interaction connected her bottommost enactment wrong six months, she said.

Trump's enforcement bid besides removed the de minimis customs exemption, which allowed Americans to bring successful $800 U.S. worthy of goods per recipient per time without having to wage work connected those goods.

Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said removing that exemption is "a hard deed to the consumer."

Something arsenic tiny arsenic a $10 portion for a household appliance, for example, volition beryllium taxable to tariffs, Remillard said.

"It's consumers that are going to extremity up paying more, not conscionable for that, but of people yet the terms connected the shelf, due to the fact that of the tariffs."