Skip to content

Langley expert suggests how businesses can survive tariffs

Saving cash and cutting expenses are among responses for small business owners
250117-lat-mc-tariffssmallbusiness1
Beverlee Rasmussen, a Canadian small business expert and author, said small businesses can do several things to protect themselves from potential U.S. tariffs.

A Langley small business expert has advice for local entrepreneurs facing the possibility of sudden high tariffs with our largest and closest trading partner.

U.S. President Donald Trump's swearing in on Monday, Jan. 20, did not come with an immediate 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods, as the incoming leader had promised in recent months.

He announced, instead, that tariffs may be imposed on Feb. 1, giving a brief reprieve to the Canadian economy.

News that Canada won't be hit by immediate tariffs will come as a relief to local small businesses, but it's unknown what will happen next, and whether Trump will stick to his Feb. 1 date or not.

"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump declared in his inaugurual address.

Canadian politicians have been getting ready to respond to tariffs for months, and a Langley-based business expert is also urging local small businesses to be prepared.

Beverlee Rasmussen said if high tariffs are announced, it won't just impact exporters.

"It's going to affect the yoga studios, mortgage brokers, it's going to affect everybody," she said.

A small business in Canada is any company with fewer than 100 employees. Out of Canada's 1.2 million businesses, 1.19 million are considered small businesses, and they employ almost half of the total private sector labour force in the country.

Rasmussen said she has three key pieces of advice for small business owners facing the possibility of tariffs.

1 – Put some cash in the bank.

Businesses facing major tariff hikes will have to absorb some near-future costs, and they'll need money to do that during the next few months, while they work on their next move.

Businesses that don't have a lot of cash on hand should look into getting a loan, including from organizations like the Business Development Bank of Canada, or the Women's Enterprise Centre, she said.

2 – Diversify suppliers and customers.

Rasmussen notes that her business coaching operation has clients in Germany and Lithuania, among other countries. Australia, Mexico, and many other countries offer viable customers for many businesses.

"The U.K. would love to buy our goods and services," she said.

Programs like the CanExport small and medium-sized enterprises can provide grants and aid to finding new markets overseas, Rasmussen noted.

3 – Be prepared to make cuts.

Rasmussen said that in the 2008 recession, one mistake businesses made was waiting too long to take action.

"Business owners are exhausted, they're in a state of fight or flight or freeze," she said.

Shoring up the bottom line and having a good handle on a business's finances are key, she advised. That can include layoffs.

Keeping small businesses vital is Rasmussen's long-term goal. 

"The last thing we want is to end up in a world where we just have Amazon and Costco and Walmart," Rasmussen said.

The pandemic showed how important small businesses are, Rasmussen said, and it also showed how small businesses can work together to get through tough times.

"Reach out and get some help," was another piece of advice she had for small business owners, noting that she was planning to touch base with the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce in the near future.

On Thursday, Jan. 16, the B.C. government released a preliminary assessment of potential impacts of a 25-per-cent tariff.

The Ministry of Finance estimate suggested unemployment could rise to 6.7 per cent in 2025 and 7.1 per cent in 2026, with 124,000 total jobs lost by 2028. The biggest impacts would be in natural resources and their associated manufacturing industries, with transportation and retail also hit.

There would be a drop in provincial GDP by 0.6 per cent in 2025 and 2026.

Corporate profits would contract by $3.6 billion to $6.1 billion annually.

With higher unemployment and lower corporate profits, the province would collect fewer taxes, with revenues reduced by between $1.6 and $2.5 billion per year.

The announcement noted that there was significant uncertainty about the assessments, because the exact nature, magnitude, and timing of U.S. policies remained unknown. The estimated numbers are based on a 25-per-cent U.S. tariff on all goods for the next four years, along with expected Canadian retaliatory tariffs.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
Read more