Ottawa's Trade Chess is a Losing Game for the Little Guy

Walking the streets of Toronto right now, you can feel the anxiety. It isn't the kind of nervousness that comes from a slow Tuesday; it's the kind that comes from watching a trade war erupt in real-time.

Last Saturday, the U.S. dropped a hammer on us, imposing 50 per cent tariffs on roughly $28 billion worth of Canadian goods. As CBC Toronto first reported, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced on Tuesday that Canada will play the same game, introducing 'proportionate, targeted and strategic' counter-tariffs on about $27.6 billion of U.S. imports—including tools, apparel, furniture, and seafood—starting Sept. 8.

Champagne says this is all about 'fairness.' But from where I'm standing, 'fairness' is a luxury that small business owners can't afford. While Ottawa and Washington engage in a high-stakes game of political chess, the mom-and-pops on my street are the ones bleeding out.

Take Jennifer Rezny, the owner and creative director of Dangerous Ladies. Her costuming company sells cosplay materials and supplies, and she didn't mince words when speaking to CBC Radio's Metro Morning. Speaking on these Section 338 tariffs, she described them as a 'killing blow' for many small businesses. For entrepreneurs like Rezny, this isn't a strategic pivot; it's an existential threat. As she told CBC, if markets are cut off, that is simply 'the end of the road.'

Then there is Sue Cadman, president of Miik. Her women's apparel company manufactures right here in the Greater Toronto Area. Cadman has already seen the damage that trade volatility causes; she noted that the U.S. ending its de minimis exemption last August—which previously allowed goods under $800 US to enter duty-free—led to at least a 50 per cent drop in U.S. orders last year. Now, she's watching customers abandon their online shopping carts the moment they see the duties and tariffs applied at checkout.

Ottawa is trying to soften the blow with $7.5 billion in tariff support for affected workers and businesses. While Daniel Tisch, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, says these measures recognize the 'real impacts' of these tariffs, a government check doesn't replace a lost customer base in the U.S. market.

It's hard to focus on 'strategic' counter-tariffs when the rhetoric coming from the U.S. is this volatile. We've seen U.S. President Donald Trump trade insults with Ontario Premier Doug Ford—who told Trump to 'kiss my ass' after Trump called him 'Flunky Ford'—and we've even seen Trump suggest renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' on Truth Social.

Giles Gherson, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, warned that these levies could impact 'every industry you can imagine.' He notes that companies are currently scrambling to figure out how these new levies, added to existing tariffs, will affect their bottom line.

Ottawa can call its response 'proportionate,' but for the local manufacturer and the niche creative, there is nothing proportionate about losing half your market overnight. We are playing a game of geopolitical pride, and the cost is being paid by the people who keep our local economy alive.