Trucks drive over the Ambassador Bridge to and from the United States in Windsor, Ontario. Goods exported to the U.S. have declined since February.

Many Canadian businesses that trade with the United States expect to report lower profits and higher operating expenses in the coming months

because of tariffs

, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

“The major takeaway is that, right now, we’re in an environment of a lot of uncertainty for businesses and, as a result, businesses are having a difficult time sort of planning and figuring out what their next steps are going to be,” Chris Johnston, chief of the agency’s Centre for Special Business Projects, said.

The agency, which surveyed more than 9,000 businesses in April and May, said more than 50 per cent of Canadian businesses that either export or import goods to and from the U.S. expect to face a “high-to-medium” impact over the next three months.

About

71 per cent of the exporters

to the U.S. expect to face cost-related obstacles, with 43 per cent also expecting higher operating expenses and 35 per cent foreseeing a decline in profits.

Similarly, 42.9 per cent of businesses importing from the U.S. anticipate the selling prices of the goods or services they buy to increase, with more than half expecting a rise in operating expenses.

The U.S. and Canada have long been significant trading partners, but the situation changed earlier this year when

U.S. President Donald Trump

began threatening and then imposing a series of tariffs on Canadian products. Canada responded by announcing targeted countermeasures, some of which have since been dropped.

As a result, goods exported to the U.S. have declined since February, i

ncluding a 15.7 per cent drop in April.

Goods imported from the U.S. were also down 10.8 per cent in the same month, according to Statistics Canada.

Despite the tariffs, businesses are looking to take different steps to position themselves to succeed regardless of what happens, Shivani Sood, the report’s author, said.

Almost 57 per cent of the exporters have taken steps to counter the impact by either finding alternative customers or delaying major investments. Similarly, 57.5 per cent of the importers have either sought alternative suppliers from outside the US, increased domestic sourcing or increased their stockpiled goods.

Johnston said the survey’s findings provide “one of the earliest indications” from Statistics Canada about how businesses are “pivoting” as a result of the tariffs. 

“Obviously, this is an area that’s going to warrant more monitoring as we go forward because this is not a situation that seems like it’s going to be resolved in the immediate future,” he said.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com

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Canadian businesses trading with U.S. look to 'pivot' as profits decline and expenses rise

2025-06-10 12:17:47

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