Those local businesses in downtown Halifax and hidden gems across the province are being impacted already by the U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods.
On March 4, the 25 per cent tariffs on goods across the southern border came into effect, triggering a trade war between Canada and U.S. Choice words have been exchanged by leaders on the topic, including the province’s Premier Tim Houston, who called President Donald Trump “short-sighted.”
In retaliation to the “unjustified” tariffs, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada and its provinces and territories are hitting back.
But those caught in the middle of the trade war continue to be the consumers and local businesses.
Paul MacKinnon, CEO of Downtown Halifax Business Commission told CityNews in an interview that supporting local business is more important than ever.
“When we talk about buying local, it typically is about, supporting locally owned businesses,” he said. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean that all the products in those stores are made in Nova Scotia or Canada.”
The “Buy Canadian” trend started when the first threats of tariffs were made over a month ago, with many people turning to alternative products. However, MacKinnon fears some businesses that rely on manufacturers down south could be hit even harder if people start boycotting anything to do with the U.S.
A lot of the messaging from governments and organization groups is asking people to buy Canadian products, which keeps money within the country.
“There’s definitely lots of concern from downtown main streets, like there is across the entire country about what this is going to be,” he said.
Price increases ‘overnight’ on some products
One of those niche downtown businesses who rely on U.S. made products is Halifax Folklore, a company focused on repairing and selling stringed instruments.
Although there are some manufacturers in Canada that make instruments, Noah Tye, the manager at the store, said some of the smaller accessories only come from the States. He told CityNews that 95 per cent of the strings they buy are from down south.
“Very few manufacturers set up to deal in steel and winding…We’re in a great buy Canadian kick, which is awesome, but there are certain things that it’s just really not possible to suddenly have a Canadian-made string company burst onto the scene,” he said.
Just overnight there was an 8 to 9 per cent increase on some items, Tye said, while distributors are urging them to stock up because costs are rising further. Part of the issue with tariffs is trying to plan for the future. Although the company can stock up on some items and accessories, it’s very difficult to figure out all the necessities over an unknown period of time.
Like many small businesses, Halifax Folklore is in a niche market in an economy that already fluctuates often, so Tye said he is good at “rolling with the punches.”
“Especially in our little shop, we just sort of try and make the music to make people happy…So maybe we’ll get a few good songs out of it,” he said.
Tourism businesses seeing impacts
The sentiment of support local business and asking Canadians to tour in the country is also a difficult topic to navigate, MacKinnon from Downtown Halifax Business Commission explained, since they don’t want to be seen as “anti-American.”
“For the tourism industry and individual tourism operators, how do you balance that by saying ‘Hey, stay in Canada, if you’re Canadian, but if you’re American, please come to Canada.’ That’ll be an interesting dance,” he said.
Ambassatours, a boating excursions company around the Halifax area, has a lot of American tourists every year. Dennis Campbell, the CEO, told CityNews that he hasn’t seen any steep declines yet.
“In fact, American business is up very nicely over last year, but we are seeing a very, very obvious uptick in our Canadian business and also an uptick in our European business,” Campbell said. “It’s certainly encouraging at this point, but we’re going to really keep a close eye on things and see how things unfold.”
One of the things that could be hit hard is fuel prices, which could impact Ambassatours. However, Campbell said in the past they “eat it to a point” before being forced to add a fuel surcharge.
The company relies on cruise ships docking in Halifax, which are reporting to Campbell that numbers are very high and pacing well compared to this time last year.
Discover Halifax says tourism in Halifax Regional Municipality reached another record year in 2024. The organization said the number of hotel room nights sold reached roughly 1,629,000 in 2024, up 2.6 per cent from the previous high in 2023.
The Port of Halifax says the April 4 to Nov. 19 season is the longest to date. It is scheduled for 188 calls and nearly 330,000 cruise guests in Halifax. There will be six inaugural calls from vessels visiting Halifax for the first time, and 52 days will see multiple ships dock here.
“We’re hearing a very definite ‘We’re going to travel soon and travel within Canada or go overseas.’ We’ve already had Europeans book on those flights and already booked their tours with us, higher than we generally would see,” Campbell said.
With files from CityNews Halifax’s Mark Hodgins.
