‘Rollercoaster’ tariff war taking a toll on Montreal retailer

Boutique Lustre on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. (Anastasia Dextrene/CTV News)

Changes to U.S. shipping tariffs are expected to have a major impact on Canadian commerce and it’s already affecting Quebec business owners.

Yasmine Wasfy, who opened her store, Boutique Lustre, in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough in 2006, worked through the rise of online shopping and the pandemic, but now she’s facing the new reality of cross-border business.

“Small businesses can’t really just thrive off of one location,” Wasfy said.

The clothing designer and store owner says American clients make up 15 per cent of her client base.

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“It’s been tough to cater to our American clients. I think the American clients have been stressed because there’s been so many changes,” she said.

“We can’t guarantee anything from when they place an order to when it’s sent out because these rules and tariffs and going up and down have just been such a rollercoaster.”

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The de minimis exemption previously allowed customers in the U.S. to order products valued under US$800 from Canada without paying tariffs or fees.

The Trump administration ended the exemption on Friday.

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The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) now says the change could affect roughly one third of small businesses in Canada.

“[Businesses] risk having some products returned or applied duties if they haven’t completed the right forms, submitted the right codes. And, ultimately, they risk losing sales and market share in the states as they adjust,” Christina Santini, the CFIB’s director of national affairs.

The U.S. is “targeting the resale market and that idea of bringing things in from China into Canada to go into the U.S. in the end,” she told CTV News.

At Boutique Lustre, the change in pricing is clear.

For example, Wasfy says a $200 garment might be slapped with an added $40 charge.

“It’s never fun to have to upsell or make people spend more money. Nobody likes to spend money on shipping. Nobody likes to spend money on tariffs but it’s out of our control at this point,” she said.

The CFIB says tariffs and other changes could put one in five businesses at risk of closing in the next six months and is calling on Ottawa to support businesses.

As for Wasfy, she’s grateful for the support of her customer base, of which 85 per cent are Canadian consumers.