Sask. farrier to be hit hard by counter-tariffs in trade war

The Prime Minister has said the counter-tariffs soon to be laid on a large list of American goods are meant to be a response to the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, but in many cases regular people will be the ones bearing the brunt.

Laurie Tonita owns Tonita Farrier Supplies near Saskatoon. He sells horseshoes, nails and tools across Saskatchewan and into some of Manitoba.

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He said there is no Canadian alternative for him to get his supplies from; they can only be sourced out of the U.S. at these volumes.

“There’s absolutely nobody in Canada that makes shoes, nails and the tools. Honestly, there is no one,” he explained.

Which means there’s nothing Tonita can do except pay the counter-tariff. He gets a shipment about every six weeks and the last one cost about CA$22,000. He’s been paying a 25 per cent tariff, but with it getting bumped up to 50 per cent, he said that will add about $11,000 to the cost.

He said he has to pass it on to his customers, and they’re not happy and are blaming the government for not getting a deal.

“These tariffs came on about a year and a half ago, and we kept thinking that it’s going to be done by June first or July first last year, and here we are 18 months later and still nothing’s done, and the tariffs are getting higher,” he said.

Tonita’s volumes haven’t gone down, but he said his customers are finding other ways to cut their expenses – by reducing the number of horses they have or by lengthening the time between having their horses’ feet trimmed.

He said he’s frustrated with the situation and just hopes that a trade deal can be done sooner rather than later.