Trump's tariff threats cause local uncertainty
Mirmil Products says 100% of business is done in U.S., other firms also await details
Travis Walker has a ringside seat for the ongoing Trump economic attack on Canada and his company risks becoming collateral damage.
He’s the founder and president of Campbellford-based Mirmil Products which “does 100 per cent of its business in the U.S.”
If/when Trump brings in tariffs, Walker will be paying when he ships products to the U.S. and when he imports material here to turn into those products, assuming Canada responds with tariffs of its own.
“I'm the importer record so I’ll be the one paying the tariff when we cross the border,” he says.
Walker expects that for existing contracts, the cost of any tariff will be passed on to the client. “On our current work, there's going to be some pain, but it won't be unmanageable. The bigger problem for us will be the reciprocal tariffs coming into Canada because I bring a lot of materials into Canada from the U.S.”
But Walker says from his perspective the current uncertainty is probably worse than the impact of any tariffs.
“I wish they had just brought the tariffs in, not put them off for 30 days,” he says.
“If the tariffs were in place and we knew that they were there, then we could figure out what our pricing structure is going be. Right now, I can't do anything. I'm less worried about the tariffs than I am about not knowing what's going on.”
The problem for him is that given the uncertainty he’s not able to bid on a number of projects that are available now. The companies won’t accept his bids because they fear having to pay 25 per cent more, he says.
Business has been booming, until now. “We did almost 100 per cent more last year than the previous year and our order book for this year is running ahead of that,” he says.
Mirmil, which moved into the former Dart Cup factory in 2021, currently employs more than 100 workers and is constantly looking for people with the technical skills it needs.
Walker says the company’s current focus is on casinos, a sector that is booming in the U.S. The company’s website explains what it does: “Millwork is traditionally all the woodwork items in an interior of a building. Wall panelling, trim, cabinetry, bars and reception desks to name a few elements. The millwork we do is highly customized for each job and includes not only wood but decorative metals, glass, solid surface products and stone.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Walker says he fears a tariff fight will hurt his employees more than it will hurt his business. That’s because they will face higher costs for food, gasoline and everything else and he also expects a lower Canadian dollar, which will drive prices even higher.
Our lower dollar has been a major factor in Mirmil’s competitiveness in the U.S. and should it decline, as Walker expects, it would partly offset the cost of tariffs.
One of the goals of any Trump tariffs would be to encourage companies to shift their operations to the U.S. Walker says that’s not something he will ever consider.
“I wouldn't do that,” he says. “I live here; I’m from Campbellford. That wouldn’t be something I would do. If we can't figure out how to work it, we would need to find something else to do.”
Walker says his company, which he founded 22 years ago, has thrived under free trade.
“In the past, I've been kind of the poster boy for successful export companies. We're purchasing as much as we can in Canada. We're bringing jobs to Canada and all of our revenue is coming from the US. That's been exactly what our government has wanted us to do. We're just on a very small scale, but that's the thing that Mr. Trump doesn't like. The thing is, we’re only doing this because of we have an agreement, CUMSA, that outlines that we can do this.”
Trump’s current tariff threats are justified by a focus on border security, as a way to break that agreement, Walker says.
“We have a contract with the US so that this exact thing does not happen. A contract that was negotiated and written by the current president.”
I told Walker it seems like he is forced to focus on a lot of international economic issues, not just making good products.
“I tell people all the time we're way more lawyers than we are cabinet makers,” he responds.
I’ve also reached out to Jim Reavell, founder and president of BMR Manufacturing Inc., and Neil Fulton, general manager of Blommer Chocolate Company, and they both say it’s too early to know just what the impact of tariffs will be on their businesses.
Reavell said BMR imports American-made items that are incorporated into safety products that are then shipped to the U.S., so the impact won’t be clear until it’s known just what items face a U.S. tariff and how Canada responds.
You can read all Trent Hills News stories on the website here.