The Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce is reminding people it’s more important than ever to shop locally.
Both Canadian and U.S. tariffs are set to go in effect on Tuesday, which is expected to cause businesses on both sides of the border to raise their prices to help offset the new expenses.
Rory Ring, president and CEO of the CK Chamber of Commerce, told CK News Today this will hit small businesses extremely hard.
“Small businesses don’t have the cash flow capabilities and the flexibility to absorb these dramatic increases in costs,” he said.
Depending on how long the tariffs are in effect, the bigger the impact these businesses will face. Because of this, Ring is hoping people will do whatever they can to support local businesses. However, this doesn’t mean boycotting U.S. chains.
“We’ve seen a lot of things on Facebook about boycotting a number of major franchise chains, but we have to understand that, in most circumstances, those are Canadian entrepreneurs that own those franchises,” added Ring.
He explained this is the perfect opportunity for people to do their research on all the items they buy. Ring noted, in some cases, Canadian materials are sent to the U.S. to be manufactured, giving some the impression that they may be American when in fact they’re Canadian.
Moving forward, people can expect to see the CK Chamber of Commerce out and about advocating for small businesses.
“We will continue to ensure that we communicate the need to support our local businesses... keeping those dollars here in Chatham-Kent,” added Ring.
CK Mayor Darrin Canniff also spoke to CK News Today about the tariffs.
“It’s going to impact Chatham-Kent significantly so I’m very hopeful this is a short-term thing,” he said.
Despite his concerns, Canniff believes the federal government did the right thing by introducing its own tariffs. He just hopes the government is ready to support people and businesses if the tariffs stay in place for an extended period of time.
Canniff also noted CK’s council will keep a close eye on the situation to see if it will need to do anything to help out those directly impacted.
“We will certainly look at all options to whether the storm,” he added.
Editor's Note: This story was written prior to the late afternoon announcement that tariffs are being paused for 30 days.