A new survey is shedding light on how tariffs prompted by the Canada-U.S. trade war are impacting small businesses.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says nearly two-thirds of small businesses are facing higher expenses.
In addition, many of those businesses are seeing lower revenues, supply chain disruptions and paused investments.
“Small businesses don’t have a lot of runway left. They are trying their best to absorb the costs, but if nothing changes, they will be forced to make some tough decisions,” Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at CFIB, said in a news release.
“The worst outcome for Canada in the trade war is a bad deal, but the second worst outcome is the never-ending uncertainty small business owners have been wrestling with for the past six months.”
Nearly one in five small businesses said they will not be able to last more than six months if the tariff status quo remains, and nearly four in 10 said they would last less than a year.
The federation wants Ottawa to provide some stability and return tariff revenue to help small businesses.
