A Canadian snowplow manufacturer faces falling US sales due to Trump’s steel tariffs, with patriotic domestic buying failing to offset lost American customers.
LONDON, CANADA: A Canadian manufacturer says US tariffs on steel are crippling its cross-border sales.
Arctic Snowplows, based in London, Ontario, has sold galvanized steel plows to the United States for decades.
Company president Mike Schulz said the tariffs add about $500 to the cost of a $10,000 plow.
“That’s a huge hit,” Schulz told AFP at the company’s factory.
“It’s something we can’t afford to just absorb and it’s something that customers in the States don’t want to pay.”
He said falling US sales have created “very uncertain times” for the firm founded in 1969.
Canada has been uniquely impacted by US tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber.
Algoma Steel, a major Canadian producer, recently announced 1,000 layoffs blaming “unprecedented tariffs”.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem described the era as “a period of global upheaval”.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned that pre-Trump economic integration with the US is not returning.
Carney argues Canada must increase domestic trade and find new overseas markets.
For Arctic Snowplows, that strategy has clear limitations.
Schulz said patriotic Canadian buying has increased but is only a “fraction” of lost US volume.
“Great, so I picked up a dealer in Saskatoon, but I lost New York,” he said.
Sales development manager Kyla Brooks said the company must be careful with pro-Canadian messaging.
She noted they cannot risk alienating remaining US customers.
Schulz dismissed exporting to distant markets like Europe as impractical due to high shipping costs.
He also expressed frustration with the federal government’s trade negotiation strategy.
Carney has rolled back Canadian counter-tariffs aimed at coaxing Trump into a deal.
Trump subsequently called off all trade talks with Canada.
Schulz said this left businesses with no tariff relief and “no indication of any deal upcoming”.
Catherine Cobden, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, called 2025 a “challenging year”.
She said the US was the destination for about half of Canada’s steel production.
Cobden expressed hope that government measures could help “reclaim our domestic market”. – AFP
