With the US tariffs now in place, it’s time for Canadian companies to roll up their sleeves and act. Our relationship with the US will never be the same. We need to accept that and focus on what needs to be done to survive, then thrive in new markets.

PAUSE.

Start off with determining your position in the Canadian market and focusing on loyal customers that can help you keep those sales going. Reach out to them this week and re-establish your commitment and dedication to their business.

Most Canadian businesses will have a significant revenue stream within Canada and could move quickly to selling to other Canadian businesses. This could provide a small boost in revenue to help overcome the disruption that the tariffs will cause to revenue and supply chains. We are all in this together.

ASSESS.

Start with an assessment of your current contracts and deliverables. How many are with US suppliers or buyers? Does the contract lock in pricing? Is there a clause that allows you to alter pricing based on external economic factors? Did you hedge currencies or pricing to provide a cushion? Are you shipping using Incoterms that name you as the US importer of record and require you to pay for the tariffs? Were you shipping using the de minimis exemption and now you need to start paying import duties for the first time?

All of these are important first steps to gain a solid understanding of your risk and vunerability to becoming 25% more expensive overnight. This will also help determine if you can stay the course or if you need to significantly adjust pricing.

Exportspark will continue to post suggestions in the next few weeks that Canadian businesses will need to incorporate to get through each stage of the transformation to new markets.

A great source of information is BDC. Check out their resources for Canadian businesses at https://lnkd.in/gw8wrfJF.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service has also posted resources for Canadian businesses at https://lnkd.in/guAjsb4f.

Exportspark has been helping Canadian companies diversify and expand to new international markets for over 20 years now. We have recently created a new set of courses for associations, chambers of commerce and economic development agencies in Canada on these topics to present to their members.

Contact us to discuss.