Since January\u00a0\u2014 and\u00a0with a friend in Germany serving as his translator and chief administrator\u00a0\u2014 Givens has been struggling with corporate documents, bank accounts and the many rules and specifications of this strange new world.<\/p>\n
He has one employee on the payroll, another on the way, and not a sale in sight. The floor of his rented German shop is littered with parts of cranes, manipulators and machines awaiting shelves and forklifts and tools and workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Germany expansion is in case tariffs go off the scale,\u201d he said of a gamble that, by his own estimation, has a 50 per cent chance of success. \u201cIf tariffs go crazy, I want to be ready for this. I want another option to sell into Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
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U.S. President Donald Trump says he is not inclined to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade that he signed in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is not inclined to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade that he signed in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the July 1 deadline to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement fast approaching, Canadian companies big and small are facing similar choices.<\/p>\n Hope as they might for a return to a harmonious status quo that would allow them to sell tariff-free south of the border, the long-term survival of their businesses \u2014 and the health of the Canadian economy \u2014 is reliant on them exporting to new markets.<\/p>\n And they\u2019re being spurred to action by Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a>, who has set the goal of doubling exports to non-U.S. countries by 2035.<\/p>\n In an interview with the Star in Paris, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said the number of Europe-focused clients served by Export Development Canada, a federal agency that offers financial aid and advice to exporters, had gone from 1,740 in the first quarter of 2026 from about 900 in 2025 \u2014 \u201cso it\u2019s a big double,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe growth is driven by those who are big and already doing international trade,\u201d said Catherine Fortin LeFaivre, vice president of international policy and global partnerships at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gap is companies \u2014 especially smaller ones \u2014 that maybe didn\u2019t ever think they\u2019d have to find alternative markets. And now they\u2019re asking themselves: \u2018How do I start with this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Interest from Canadian firms growing<\/p>\n This is the hidden face of a fragile Canadian economy.<\/p>\n The federal government is negotiating free trade agreements, signing strategic partnerships, and doing defence procurement deals, pitching Canada as the land of energy, minerals and stability.<\/p>\n But the long and winding path between opportunity and profit is strewn with uncharted barriers and potential pitfalls.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get a lot of small- and medium-sized companies that want to export, but they don\u2019t know how,\u201d a trade official at the Canadian embassy in Paris told the Star.<\/p>\n Being \u201cexport-ready\u201d is a rather lengthy process. It involves the creation of market-specific business plans based on a country, the matching of particular standards and specifications, the translation of websites and corporate documents and a host of often-overlooked hurdles.<\/p>\n The clich\u00e9 example is the person making jams out of their kitchen, but who aspires to sell to the world.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it professional? No, but it could be. A lot of (companies) started that way,\u201d the official said. \u201cThey say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m going to try and export to France.\u2019 Well, just because your jams are popular in Montreal, doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019re going to have a great success exporting.\u201d<\/p>\n But the growing interest of Canadian companies in reaching new markets is tangible.<\/p>\n Two years ago, at the Eurosatory defence industry trade show in Paris<\/a>, there were about 50 Canadian companies shopping their wares to potential clients. When it reconvenes later this month, some 170 Canadian exhibitors will be present.<\/p>\n To spur their chances of success abroad, the federal government is creating or expanding Export Development Canada branches in Sweden, Poland and France while also posting additional defence attach\u00e9s to Canadian embassies in Europe. The attach\u00e9s have an explicit mandate to help promote and sell Canadian-made military goods \u2014 something of a shift in both military and diplomatic circles, where matters of trade and defence have been kept separate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m getting more and more calls to Canada saying, \u2018How can you help me with mining? How can you help me with energy? How can you help me with defence?\u2019\u201d said Sidhu, adding that he gave a \u201cstrategic directive\u201d to help sell more Canadian energy and defence equipment to the world.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody wants to do more with Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Turbocharge the economy\u2019<\/p>\n
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