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After the latest announcement of 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on a wide range of Canadian exports, some members of the Manitoba business community say they’re tired of the constant uncertainty.
“I think there’s a level of urgency that it’s time for this nonsense to kind of stop and that we need to come to some agreements on what a CUSMA agreement looks like,” Manitoba Chambers of Commerce CEO Chuck Davidson told host Faith Fundal on CBC’s Up to Speed.
Only days after Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump were sitting together during the FIFA World Cup 2026 final in New Jersey, Trump announced a new round of 50 per cent tariffs on certain goods that would normally be allowed into the U.S. tariff-free under the Canada-United States-Mexico free-trade agreement.
The rationale offered by the White House, detailed in three presidential proclamations, is to offset the “discriminatory” Canadian trade policy against the U.S. regarding motor vehicles, dairy and alcoholic beverages.
Manitoba pulled American alcohol from its shelves in February 2025 in response to tariffs imposed on Canadian goods. Some American products are back on Manitoba shelves, but only until supplies last, with no new imports into the province.
“It’s clear that the ban on American booze is working. So, if Trump wants to negotiate an end to the trade deal that he started, we’re happy to get a fair deal for Canadians. But until then, the U.S. booze stays off the shelves,” Premier Wab Kinew said in an Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon.
Kinew’s office confirmed he is one of nine Canadian premiers who have signed a deal to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales — a step toward lowering interprovincial trade barriers in response to rising barriers in the U.S.
Steppler and his family own a farm in Miami, Man., where they raise 1,800 honeybee colonies. He says losing the U.S. market because of tariffs would be a disaster for the honey industry in Canada. (Gary Solilak/CBC)
Trump’s latest tariff announcement comes as trade talks between the U.S. and Canada have stalled, and as provincial leaders descend upon Charlottetown, P.E.I., for the annual meeting of premiers.
The products on the long list of goods expected to be hit with the tariff in 30 days include video game consoles, golf equipment, clothing items, furniture and honey.
Ian Steppler is a beekeeper in Miami, Man., and chair of the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association. He runs a farm where he and his family raise 1,800 honeybee colonies, in addition to growing a variety of other crops.
He said losing the American market would be disastrous.
“The United States is a big honey buyer for the Canadian beekeeping industry,” he said.
“In Manitoba, we produce about 15 to 25 million pounds, and three to four million of those pounds is sold directly to the States. So, that represents six to eight million dollars to the Manitoba beekeeper. So, it’s quite significant.”
Steppler says the recent tariff proclamations have the beekeeping industry “a little worked up right now” and beekeepers don’t understand how to respond to the new 50 per cent tariff.
“We feel a little bit sideswiped,” he said.
“How do you run a business like that with this sense of uncertainty of what we’re going to get paid for a product right in the middle of the season, when we need to be selling our honey to our customers?”
“We’re beekeepers. We just mind our own business — we just produce honey, and we sell it to the customer…. and to be brought into this whole problem is really frustrating as a business owner,” Steppler said.
That frustration is shared by Grunthal-area producer David Wiens, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
He says it’s disappointing the tariff talk south of the border hasn’t gone away, especially since his American counterparts actually export more dairy to Canada than vice versa.
“The U.S. has received considerable tariff-free access to the Canadian market,” Wiens said. “Canada is the U.S.’s second-largest dairy export market after Mexico, and on a per-capita basis, we’re actually their largest market. So, I think that’s important to remember that.”
Davidson says he hopes Trump’s latest announcement is only a negotiating tactic but says this type of uncertainty can’t continue.
“We need to find some longer-term solution so that businesses can operate in a level of certainty,” Davidson said.
“This continues to be an ongoing issue, and it has been one that has created that level where businesses aren’t always confident to make those key investments, whether it be within their companies, within their people.”
Davidson says he expects this latest round of tariffs to dominate the conversation over the next two days in Charlottetown.
“I think there’s definitely going to be a change in the tone and a change in what premiers and the prime minister have discussions on over the next course of the next two days,” he said.
“And it’s going to be really focused on that relationship with the U.S. and coming to some sort of an agreement on the CUSMA.”