With Trump tariff uncertainty, this Manitoba manufacturer is doubling down on Canadian pride

The on-again-off-again U.S. decision to slap a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods has some businesses scrambling to plan for an uncertain future.

Brandon-based Behlen Industries, a steel building manufacturing company, makes a potato storage Quonset, which is its only product sent to the United States, says senior vice-president Sean Lepper.

Its shop was running seven days a week trying to beat the March 4 tariff date threat.

"In the last month, we've shipped over 100 loads of steel to the U.S., which is an incredible amount of steel for a product line that would typically ship over the next four months," Lepper said. "It's been very chaotic."

If a 25 per cent tariff is implemented, Behlen would most likely see an overnight stoppage of its Quonset production, Lepper said. 

Overall, though, Lepper expects the tariff impacts to be negligible because Behlen's company structure focuses on domestic production and sales. Behlen doesn't buy anything in the United States and all other products are based in Canada using steel from Hamilton, Regina or Winnipeg.

But the tariff threats have created intense uncertainty in the market, and the company is fielding calls from dealers across Canada asking what impacts the tariffs will have on products.

Most recently, U.S. President Donald Trump said he's pausing tariffs on some Canadian goods until April 2. Trump's partial climbdown is just another pause and there are more promised tariffs on steel and aluminum coming next week and beyond.

Barry Prentice, director of the Transport Institute at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, says tariffs could be the catalyst for Canada to build up its resources, including developing critical minerals and increasing transportation connectivity across the country.

"We just aren't developing new resources the way we should. So one of the advantages I think that the Trump tornado has done for us is it's really caused us to take a hard look at what we do," Prentice said.

"Are we buying from Canadian producers? Are we looking at intervention trade barriers that are blocking trade? Are we looking for new markets?"

Planning for uncertainty

Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, says this uncertainty has workers across industries bracing for the worst. They're already hearing about some employers seeing fewer orders, which means less work.

"Workers are worried about what their future is ... We're already hearing about layoffs," Bruske said. "They're really worried because every tweet from the White House means a different direction.... Regardless of what industry they're in there's that huge amount of anxiety right now."

There needs to be an all-hands-on-deck approach to support critical industries like manufacturing that rely on cross-border sales, she says.

Lois Ruston, Brandon Chamber of Commerce President, says there is a robust manufacturing industry in Brandon and on Monday the Chamber is sitting down with around a dozen businesses to talk about tariffs and their impacts.

Ruston expects encouraging people to buy Canadian will be part of the conversation, she said.

"People feel very fearful and they understand the impact that this is going to have on our country and on our economy potentially," she said. "I think that buying local, shopping local, buying Canadian … it gives consumers and everyday Canadians a way to make a statement."

But Doug Ramsey, professor in the Department of Rural Development at Brandon University, warns that in the end, buying Canadian may not be enough to make up for the losses created by tariffs. There also needs to be an emphasis on diversification with other markets in Asia and Europe, along with what is produced in Canada.

"We need to take the passion that Canadians have now, not for just trying to buy Canadian, but seeking out what is Canadian and ensuring that ... there are more products that are Canadian," he said.

"Whether it's pipelines or making sure you buy the steel product that's fabricated in Manitoba or Ontario, that's how we can strengthen our economy and then secure better trade deals with other regions of the world."

Canadian support

Meanwhile, Behlen is seeing unprecedented interest from across Canada about their products. These calls first started in January around Trump's inauguration and the start of tariff threats, Lepper said.

Behlen is seeing new clients because they know it's Canadian-owned and using Canadian products, Lepper said. They're quoting buildings from mining in Newfoundland to mining on Baffin Island and the Arctic to Victoria and everywhere in between.

This is helping the Canadian market stay fairly strong for Behlen, despite the uncertainty created by a potential trade war, he said.

"We have customers, end users asking and demanding that the product be Canadian, which is really uncommon for us," Lepper said. "Most of the time it would come down to price.... Now it's less about price and more about where it's coming from."