THUNDER BAY — Patty Hajdu, the federal jobs and families minister, was at Thunder Bay Hydraulics on Friday morning to announce help for businesses dealing with shocks and strains from U.S. tariffs.
The Montreal Street employer is one of those businesses.
Hydraulics president Jamie Crozier said he was surprised to learn recently that scissor lifts his company makes are subject to U.S. tariffs.
The 50 per cent tariff applied to the Canadian steel in a lift adds 15-20 per cent to the lift’s cost, Jamie Crozier told Newswatch.
“It means that my product is just not as competitive as it was before” in the U.S. market, he said.
Hajdu, who is also the MP for Thunder Bay–Superior North and minister responsible for FedNor, announced Friday that northern Ontario businesses can now apply to the Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The country’s Liberal government has doubled the RTRI program’s funds to $1 billion nationwide over three years, she said. At least $38 million will be available through FedNor, she said after the announcement.
Delivered through regional development agencies such as FedNor, the money will help businesses stay competitive and resilient in a shifting global landscape, she said.
“Many companies are deeply worried about the sustainability of” themselves and their sectors, Hajdu told reporters gathered at Thunder Bay Hydraulics.
“And so the government is working on all angles to try to make sure that we can bolster critical sectors and support small businesses like Hydraulics to be able to survive, sustain and adapt to a world where our largest trading partner may no longer be the best trading partner for certain sectors and certain products.”
After her announcement, Hajdu said the government has been hearing from “a variety of different sectors and businesses that are becoming deeply impacted by tariffs … that are making it impossible to sell their product in the United States at any profit margin.”
At stake is not just the survival of those businesses but the health of Canada’s economy, she said.
“This is a serious time, and it requires a serious response, and regional economic development agencies like FedNor have been empowered to work with the small and medium-sized businesses that are feeling the pinch and at risk of losing business.”
The RTRI is part of a broad set of tariff support measures that includes the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Pivot to Grow initiative and support for trade-exposed sectors through the Strategic Response Fund.
Businesses can learn more about the RTRI through FedNor’s website.
Thunder Bay–Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said he believes the RTRI “will be an important tool to help local companies affected by tariffs withstand their economic impact,” though U.S. President Donald Trump may change tactics in a way that hurts the program’s effectiveness.
“The most predictable thing about Trump is he’s unpredictable,” Powlowski said.
Jamie Taylor, CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commision, said the CEDC has “been hearing from a variety of different businesses” affected by the Trump tariffs.
“Everybody is feeling this in a different way, whether they get supplies from the U.S.A. or they’re shipping their product to the U.S.A. So I think this is important for all businesses in Thunder Bay,” she said.
