Mississauga businesses say uncertainty around tariffs is even worse than an actual trade war with America 

Mississauga businesses small and large are anxiously watching in a state of stasis as many of their operations are paralyzed by uncertainty about the conditions they rely on. 

There have been countless warnings that the Canada–U.S. trade war will devastate industries and communities on both sides of the border, with fears around the potential disruption to businesses and economic growth. 

Some businesses in Mississauga say the uncertainty itself is the biggest problem.

“They have to release some funds for us, for small businesses, because I won't be able to survive this,” Gaurav Seth, managing director at RV Stone Supply which sells premium home finishings, told The Pointer.

With the swirling impacts of tariffs, Seth finds himself in a particularly unnerving position. The Mississauga based natural stone supplier — which provides granite, marble, sandstone, wall panels, stone veneer, slate and limestone for residential and commercial projects — says that as an exporter that primarily sends products to Mexico and the U.S., his orders have completely halted while his customers wait to see what happens day-to-day.

Looking to expand his business footprint, which was established in 2017, Seth signed a five-year lease earlier this year for a warehouse in Windsor to be closer to the border. Now, with roughly 60 percent of his business tied to the U.S. market, he is unsure whether he will be able to continue operations depending on the nature and length of any tariffs. 

“I wanted to be closer to the border for ease of business. But now I'm left stranded because I have a lease of five years with the warehouse. I can't even exit the warehouse, and now I can't even do the exports on my terms to the U.S.,” he told The Pointer. 

Since business typically picks up in the spring with more orders coming in ahead of the warmer construction season, Seth said he was already preparing the material he had planned to export this year. With the warehouse already secured and stock ready to go, he is still trying to maintain operations but says the uncertainty makes the next few months harshly unpredictable. 

“I planned everything well, the warehouse was all set up. All the stock was there to be exported to the U.S. and now I'm just stuck with this thing. Now I have to absorb the tariff to reduce my margins. Or if that won't work, I have to stop it. I will try another six months to see how it works out. If that won't help, then I have to stop it, or I have to increase the prices.”

He fears price increases to offset the cost of any tariffs will drive customers away. Aside from a few orders that have trickled in from Mexico, Seth says he has not had any come in from clients in the U.S. since the tariff threats first surfaced. While he has reserve funds for roughly three to four months of operations, once those are exhausted on the warehouse rent and staff salaries, he says he will probably have to let some employees go.

Seth said he is looking to new clients within Canada in places like Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver, as well as international customers beyond North America.

Several Mississauga owners are hoping the federal government will provide some financial relief to small businesses already crippled as orders have been halted, shipments across the border have slowed to a stop and partnerships south of the border have been put on halt.

With a federal election underway, these small businesses are looking to the next government to support them through this turbulent time.  

Liberal Party leader Mark Carney who is still prime minister during the caretaker period of government in an election, has pledged $5 billion to diversify Canada’s trade infrastructure and has pledged that all revenue from retaliatory actions will go to impacted Canadian businesses and workers. He has announced the removal of all provincial trade barriers by July 1 — a policy move that would help Seth as he looks to source new clients from within the country. Carney has also promised to make employment insurance supports easier to access.

Prime Minister Mark Carney would remove provincial trade barriers to enhance local markets.

(Mark Carney/X) 

The federal government, prior to the election being called, announced earlier this month that it would invest $5 billion over two years, beginning this year, as part of a newly launched Trade Impact Program through Export Development Canada to help exporters reach new markets for Canadian products and support companies with “losses from non-payment, currency fluctuations, lack of access to cash flows, and barriers to expansion.” The government also planned to provide $500 million in loans through the Business Development Bank of Canada to support impacted businesses in sectors directly targeted by tariffs. Earlier this week Carney also announced a $5,000 TFSA top-up for Canadian investments.  

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has announced the Canada First Plan which includes putting money from tariffs collected into tax relief with an amount set aside for workers hit hardest by U.S. tariffs; he has also pledged to remove provincial trade barriers. 

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has put forward a Workers for Canada framework which includes removing barriers to accessing Employment Insurance and an extension of benefits; he also vowed to eliminate provincial trade barriers. 

Trump announced on Wednesday he will be placing a 25 percent tariff on the auto sector, threatening the highly intertwined supply chain between the two countries with roughly 22 percent of North American vehicles produced between Michigan and Ontario alone, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC). This will be felt deeply in Peel where manufacturing and transportation dominate the local economy with hundreds of small and medium-size businesses in the region that do business with the U.S., including dozens that support the automotive industry — Brampton’s Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) assembly plant among them. 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he will be introducing 25 percent tariffs on the auto sector.

(Donald Trump/X) 

Just hours before the U.S. President’s announcement, Carney pledged to support Canadian auto workers against tariffs and grow the industry by introducing a $2 billion Strategic Response Fund “to boost the auto sector’s competitiveness, protect manufacturing jobs, support workers to upskill their expertise in the industry, and build a fortified Canadian supply chain,” though it is unclear how it will be used or who it will be used for. In the same breath, he also promised to build an “All-in-Canada” network for auto manufacturing of components that would focus on building more of them in Canada, while also limiting the need for parts crossing the border during production, and bringing investment into the industry locally.

While the auto industry is getting some promised support, some small businesses fear they are being left behind. 

“Not only are we dealing with minimal orders, we're dealing with the unknown,” Grant Stummer, CEO of Six Points Plastics Inc., told The Pointer. “So that puts a lot of stress on our cash flow. [It] puts a lot of stress on our employees and our future.”

The local company manufactures plastic injection moulding and services several industries including automotive, aviation, consumer, electronics and pharmaceuticals. The Mississauga based manufacturer has been in business for nearly six decades but with the latest cross border policy changes, it is unclear what the future holds. 

While the majority of Stummer’s customers are located in southern Ontario, much of his business has shifted to American based companies, and elsewhere. While he would like to do more business within Canada, the CEO said the reality is that a lot of Canadian businesses are tied to the U.S. through proximity, supply chains, the similarity of the markets and other factors that intertwine enterprise between the two countries.

“A lot of my product goes not only to Ontario, but to Europe, to the U.S., to Mexico and so basically I would say 95 percent of our orders right now are on hold. Everybody's waiting for this literally next week. So we’re seeing [the impacts]," he said. “The only information we're getting from our material suppliers, because our material comes up from the U.S. and is held in distribution warehouses around southern Ontario, is that they can hold their price until inventories have been depleted. When that is depleted, then we will go as per tariff.”

Stummer said Carney’s approach of moving away from U.S. relations is not the way to respond. “I think you have to basically give [Trump] what he wants and then hopefully come out with a better number than originally going in. Don't go in with arrogance.”

Jeffrey Cameron says he is still seeing demand for his Mississauga plastics products, but worries what will happen if he is hit with the 25 percent tariffs promised on April 2nd.

(Paige Peacock/The Pointer) 

Jeffrey Cameron, owner and President of Cameron Compressor Limited, said he believes Carney is the most qualified to stand up against Trump, telling The Pointer that, “for now, Mark Carney is the guy that has the most experience with respect to this level of chaos and macro economic confusion.”

Cameron says he is still seeing demand but is worried because as a company that assembles air compressors for distribution across Canada, he brings in a lot of components from south of the border. 

“We import, we assemble the products here for distribution in Canada. We have certain voltages that are unique to Canada, and so our ability to react to orders quickly for the Canadian market is sort of a good thing. So this is a massive inconvenience,” he explained. 

“It's time consuming. It's expensive. There are a lot of innocent people, hard working people, that are being penalized for this.”

Amid all the uncertainty, Cameron said a big challenge is trying to create a price list with everything currently uprooted. One major product line that he anticipates will be hit by 25 percent tariffs next week is pressure valves; he recently applied to the federal government for an exemption on them.

Cameron, who took over the business in the ‘70s from his father who founded it in 1939, is hopeful the trade war will play out with minimal harm. While he is not able to give a definitive answer on how it will impact his business, he says for now he is just reacting to what each day brings. 

He currently has an order coming though a product line that originates in the Netherlands that is waiting to be shipped out of Florida. He is now scrambling to get it across the border before April 2nd. The process, he says, is “like doing a macro economic limbo contest then just trying to determine what side of the bed President Trump's going to get up on before our shipment leaves.”

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock 

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you