Central Alberta business owners are preparing for what life might look like if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to go ahead with his planned tariffs against Canada.
On the weekend Trump signed an order to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canadian imports, with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy. Trump has since agreed to delay the tariffs against Canada for at least 30 days.
Carpet and flooring were part of the 25 per cent retaliatory tariff list announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Craig Darrell, owner of L.A. Carpet & Tile in Lacombe, says that list would have impacted their business.
"The majority of our carpet products all come out of Dalton, Georgia so they'd all be affected by the retaliatory tariffs as well as a lot of our setting materials come out of the States and would be affected," he commented.
Darrell says they're also facing the drop in the Canadian dollar, which is going to impact international shipping rates quite dramatically.
"Now we're planning for a month out in case they [tariffs] come into effect. We want to make sure that our customers aren't paying more for goods than they need to," he commented. "We are expanding our selection of Canadian carpet. There is one mill based out of Quebec that we are able to utilize. Canada's also fortunate to have some of the best hardwoods in the world, so we're expanding our selection of that as well."
Darrell says he's also looking at European offerings as well.
Several home builders contacted L.A. Carpet & Tile early Monday to ensure that the impending tariffs wouldn't impact their budgets.
Darrell says they're working closely with builders and contractors to make sure that they won't be impacted if the tariffs were to come into effect.
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