U.S. tariffs paused, but Quebec manufacturing industry still facing uncertainty

"It's really the uncertainty that's causing the big issue," says Marc Edwards, president and CEO of Kane Biotech, which manufactures its products in Quebec, amid looming U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. Alyssia Rubertucci reports.

Business executives in Quebec are holding their breath over the imposition of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods – with worries about how it might impact manufacturing.

The proposed tariffs are being paused for 30 days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon.

The president and CEO of Kane Biotech, a Winnipeg-based biotechnology company that manufactures products for the treatment of wounds in Mirabel, north of Montreal, says the business is under threat.

“We’ve spent 20 years doing the R&D and finally have a product going out to market,” Marc Edwards said. “We’re just launching it commercially and these tariffs certainly aren’t gonna speed things up for us as we reach into the U.S. market. Hopefully they’ll speed things up for the Canadian market.”

“It’s really the uncertainty that’s causing the big issue right now.”

The company currently gets all of its sales from the U.S. market. 

“We have to work with our U.S. partner to figure out how we’re gonna continue to sell our products in the U.S. … and minimize the impact we have on our bottom line.”

Kane Biotech’s antimicrobial gel was approved for sale by Health Canada in November, but Edwards says the process to actually get it to market is slow.

“It’s a little bit more complicated than the U.S., but hopefully these tariffs will encourage the provincial health-care systems to speed that up,” Edwards said.

The president of a company that manufactures mechanical equipment in Sorel-Tracy, about 90 km northeast of Montreal, says his 175 employees have been asking questions.

“It’s certain that today, it didn’t impact us,” said Éric Durand, president of Aciers Richelieu. “It’s going to be in the long term. Our customers are export customers. We’re really in the mines and metals. We’re talking about aluminum smelters, the mines in the north. If they export less, we’re going to sell less to these companies and provide fewer services.”

A worker at Aciers Richelieu in an undated handout photo. (Submitted by: Éric Durand)

Durand says the next step involves looking for suppliers outside of the U.S.

“Sometimes, we can find cheaper ones,” he said. “We are used to always going to the same places. Now we are going to broaden our horizons.

“We’re definitely going to do everything we can to keep our employees working in the plant. We’re going to stick together. We’re going to do what it takes to make it work.”

Workers at Aciers Richelieu, a company that manufactures mechanical equipment in Sorel-Tracy, in an undated handout photo. (Submitted by: Éric Durand)

The federal government is preparing for a “pandemic-style” bailout for Canadians and businesses if tariffs are eventually carried out.

“We’d really like to be able to accelerate the sales of our product in Canada, but in lieu of that, if there’s financial aid available, we will definitely pursue that as much as possible,” Edwards said.

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