Tariff: A word that a year ago — in that halcyon pre-”Liberation Day” age— the average person had, at best, a sketchy understanding of.
Fast forward to the last quarter of 2026, and we’re all fluent in the taxes imposed by one country on the imports from another. None more so than the businesses whose operations have been plunged into the chaos and uncertainty of Trump-ian monetary policy.
The latest to feel the pain in a post-CUSMA universe? Businesses selling a particularly niche set of products caught in the cross-border crossfire of tariffs and retaliatory counter-tariffs. Some feel middle-school vindictive — hockey sticks and maple syrup, for example — while others are head-scratchingly random, like beauty products and honey.
To understand what it’s like to be a Canadian business targeted by one of these niche tariffs, we spoke with three business owners whose products have been unwillingly conscripted into a trade war. Here’s how they’re coping in real time — and how they’d love their countryfolk to help them in the trenches.
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