Local retailers react to national threat
Vince's Market in Uxbridge was set to begin placing Canadian flag stickers on Canadian products in the store as of Tuesday.
The store manager said Vince's stores in Sharon and Newmarket have already started applying the stickers in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the U.S. She said Vince's will be looking for alternative sources for some American products, noting that customers have started asking for Canadian goods.
Zehrs manager Greg Niarchos said some of his store's customers have already asked that American products be taken out of the store. Other than that, however, he said any comments on the tariffs would have to come from corporate headquarters. The same held true at Canadian Tire, where the Cosmos was told any moves in regards to the tariffs would be a corporate decision.
The auto industry is a complex network of parts moving back and forth across borders, and Williamson car dealership said it is hard to say how the tariffs will affect them or how they can combat them. General manager Moses Dawson said the dealership's focus now is on finding sub-$35,000 vehicles for its used car lot.
When asked if the dealership could face difficult times because of the tariffs, Dawson said: "I think everybody is."
At the LCBO store, Californian wines and American whiskey remained on the shelves, The store manager said she could not comment, but gave the Cosmos a copy of an LCBO communique saying U.S. products must be moved from the store no later than Feb. 4. However, later in the day on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that U.S. alcohol products can remain in LCBO stores for the time being. He made that announcement after it was revealed that Trump has delayed his tariffs for one month following phone calls with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Prior to the tariff delay announcement, Uxbridge council voted in favour of supporting Canadian producers and manufacturers. Mayor Dave Barton introduced a report in which he recommended that Uxbridge implement a "Buy Canadian" policy and that any purchases of U.S. products exceeding $1,000 must be approved by Chief Administrative Officer Kristi Honey.
Barton's report recommended the policy stay in effect "until such time as there is clear indication from the province and feds that trade relations have been normalized."
It also recommended that all municipalities in Ontario implement similar policies.
Later in the day, a joint statement was issued by Regional Chair John Henry and all eight mayors in the Region of Durham. The statement said: "We stand with the federal and provincial governments' responses - the 25% import tariffs on $155 billion of American goods beginning in the next 21 days are an unfortunate but necessary step as we align to stand up for our people and businesses. We encourage residents and business owners to buy Canadian products and services when possible to support the local economy."
