The impacts of wide-reaching U.S. tariffs imposed in March and its economic uncertainty have spawned operational, shipping and consumer demand challenges for 小蓝视频 Indigenous businesses.
However, some local businesses are successfully adjusting to the new landscape by focusing their operations either in Canada, or across the border.
“Tariff uncertainty creates uncertainty for the businesses. It makes it harder for them to continue [operating],” said Matthew Foss, Canadian Council for Indigenous Business vice-president of research and public policy.
“How do you operate businesses, particularly small businesses, under that context?,” he said.
For Nuez Acres, a Langley-based beauty company offering pecan oil-based and waterless products, their goods haven’t been subject to tariffs because they qualify under the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, said co-founder Anthony Wingham.
Tariffs threats did however have an impact on the cost of shipping through the border.
Co-founder Nancy Wingham told BIV in February that shipping costs increased substantially in a matter of weeks before tariffs even came into play. Nuez Acres’ first shipment of seven pallets to the U.S. was around $900 to ship, increasing to $700 for one pallet in February.
She said this was because pre-tariff uncertainty caused Canadian companies to rush and stockpile their products south of the border.
The CCIB also announced in February that Canadian Indigenous businesses would be disproportionately impacted by tariffs. Of those businesses who export, 19 per cent of their revenues come from exports to the U.S. This number is as high as 90 per cent for some businesses, said the CCIB.
Another challenge for 小蓝视频 Indigenous businesses brought on by tariffs is the Canadian consumer not buying as much, said Wingham.
“As far as that “buying [Canadian], made-in-Canada” that they were trying to push for, a lot of that really fizzled out,” he said.
Other 小蓝视频 Indigenous businesses, like Satya Organics Inc., are also experiencing shipping challenges, but not directly related to tariffs, said founder Patrice Mousseau.
Her North Vancouver-based skincare company uses organic ingredients to treat various skin conditions — including eczema.
Canada Post disruptions have made it difficult to ship products across the country, said Mousseau, who added the uncertainty that U.S. regulations could change suddenly and affect suppliers from that country makes operations more difficult.
Regarding declining consumer spending, Mousseau said people are being more thoughtful and are simplifying their purchases. People are buying one product with multiple purposes, instead of buying 10 products with one purpose, she said.
“That’s not a bad thing,” said Mousseau. “It’s to our benefit to maybe slow down and be more thoughtful with our purchases and buy Canadian.”
When U.S. tariff threats began, Satya decided to focus on the domestic market, while Nuez Acres pushed closer to their goal of expanding into the U.S.
Nuez Acres officially registered their business in Washington on May 30. One of the reasons for the move was the challenge of having a Canadian address and finding wholesalers to do business within the U.S. amid trade tensions, said Wingham.
Moving the company south of the border allows Nuez Acres to access more investment and grant opportunities, he said.
“We can also have that made-in-USA stamp on our products,” he said. “It really opens up the doors in the environment that is down there now, and after that as well.”
Wingham told BIV in February that his company had always had the objective to expand and manufacture in the U.S., and that looming tariffs might actually speed up that process.
An Indigenous component was also one of the reasons for Nuez Acres’ move. Wingham said the Métis don’t have access to the Jay Treaty—a treaty allowing Canadian First Nations members to enter the U.S. for employment, study or immigration.
“We didn’t have access to nation-to-nation building,” said Wingham. “Ultimately, the only way that we could get a footing in there would have been to register this U.S. business”
For Satya, the company has found success in its domestic strategy, according to Mousseau.
“There’s been a significant uptick in sales,” she said. “We’re really working on meeting the capacity here in Canada — when people are making the decision to buy Canadian it makes a huge difference.”
Mousseau also told BIV in February that it would be cutting direct exports to the U.S. but would use a third party to deliver their products to customers south of the border. U.S. exports made up between 25 per cent and 33 per cent of the company’s revenue back then, she said.
Satya recently signed an agreement to sell their cosmetic line of products to a U.S. company specializing in eczema products. The U.S. company will supply Satya’s U.S. customers with their products south of the border, said Mousseau.
The groundwork is also being laid to start exporting into China, perhaps in 2026 depending on capacity, she said. However, the plan remains to manufacture here in Canada.
“We will always be a Canadian-made product,” said Mousseau.
In the case of Nuez Acres, manufacturing is still ongoing in Langley, and the plan remains to keep operations in Canada and sell the product as Canadian-made, according to Wingham.
Challenges around shipping disruptions and consumer spending still linger, but the implementation of Indigenous foreign trade zones might be an effective way to support Indigenous businesses amid trade uncertainties, said Foss from the CCIB.
FTZs are special economic zones that provide preferential treatment in the shape of tariff or duty eliminations and deferrals, said Foss. These are designed to make conducting business more attractive within the zone, and while some of these tools exist within Canada, they aren’t in full effect, he said.
If a product with a tariff is flown directly into an FTZ, and some refinements and value are added to that item, it could leave the zone to other parts of the country without a tariff being imposed, said Foss.
“We should establish some Indigenous Foreign Trade Zones that would allow for a broader application of this, and allow the Indigenous community to be importers,” he said.
FTZs would also allow businesses to partner with Indigenous territories and operate in these locations without the fear of tariffs, added Foss.
