{"id":808778,"date":"2026-07-17T22:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808778\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:31:12","slug":"inside-a-quebec-cabinet-plant-hit-hard-by-the-trade-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808778\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside a Quebec cabinet plant hit hard by the trade war"},"content":{"rendered":"

COATICOOK, Que. \u2013 Even though there are up to 15,000 moving parts on any given day at Alain Ouzilleau\u2019s custom cabinet plant in Coaticook, Que., it\u2019s only running at half capacity.<\/p>\n

Ouzilleau spent $25 million to expand Cabico&Co\u2019s operations over the last five years, with a new 50,000-sq. ft building and state-of-the-art robots. But instead of growth, the double hit of 25 per cent U.S. tariffs and a flood of foreign imports now has him breaking even. <\/p>\n

He laid off about 200 of his 700-person workforce, which includes the company\u2019s second plant in St. Catharines, Ont. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating and painful,\u201d he said. \u201cWe love our people.\u201d <\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to double those tariffs to 50 per cent in January, but delayed that move by a year. However, even at the 25 per cent level, Ouzilleau says Cabico&Co \u201ccannot be profitable.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re breaking even, but we want to continue to invest. We want to continue to grow,\u201d he told CTV News at the plant. \u201cOne of the options we\u2019ll have to start looking at, to continue to protect our Canadian jobs, will be to look at having operations south of the border, which I would hate to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ouzilleau is a member of the Canadian Wood Products Alliance (CWPA), which represents the kitchen cabinet, hardwood flooring and wood furniture industries. They have been pushing the federal government for help, and Ouzilleau says the biggest \u201cmilestone\u201d was securing the launch of a rare trade tool: a safeguard inquiry<\/a> into foreign imports. <\/p>\n

\"\"Kitchen cabinet being made The Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) says that concern focuses on the short term while ignoring a longer-term risk if measures aren\u2019t taken to protect the industry. (Abigail Bimman\/CTV News <\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows companies to impose tariffs in a time of emergency, when precisely like this, when there\u2019s a flood of product coming into the market, and it allows countries to save their industries from a massive change in in trade flows,\u201d explained William Pellerin, a partner with McMillian LLP who is representing the CWPA. <\/p>\n

But the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) doesn\u2019t have to report to Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne with a decision until Jan. 15, 2027. In the meantime, the wood products industry is pushing for provisional tariffs of 100 per cent or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an emergency measure,\u201d Pellerin said. \u201cIt\u2019s needed now, and we can\u2019t wait until February, or the industry will be gutted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pellerin explains the issue with foreign imports is also connected to tariffs. Other countries around the globe face high tariffs to sell to the U.S. and see Canada as an attractive alternative. He says that\u2019s why the CWPA is calling for such a high tariff in the interim. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen companies like Cabico are all of a sudden flooded and don\u2019t know what to do, a safeguard is what they\u2019re asking for to impose\u2026 a tariff for three years \u2013 no more, not renewable \u2013 just so that people can catch their breath, so that their business doesn\u2019t die in the meantime, until companies can readjust,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The CWPA says<\/a> 3,000 jobs have already been lost in Quebec alone, with another 7,000 at risk by 2028. <\/p>\n

But the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) doesn\u2019t support provisional tariffs, warning they will raise prices for Canadians. The group is acting as an intervenor during the CITT\u2019s inquiry, which it describes as in the \u201cearly days.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very much against any sort of pre-emptive action by the government,\u201d Matt Poirier, vice-president of federal government relations for the RCC, told CTV News. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to pay a 100 per cent tariff or whatever percentage tariff on these goods, those costs will be passed on to the consumer because retailers, everyone in the supply chain, frankly, is stretched to the limit at the moment,\u201d Poirier said. \u201cSo any new cost, in addition to all the inflation that we\u2019re seeing, all the disruptions that we\u2019re seeing, will need to be passed on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Workers at Cabico&Co\u2019s plant Layoffs at Cabico&Co\u2019s plant impact the broader supply chain, as well as the local economy. (Abigail Bimman\/CTV News) <\/p>\n

The Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) says that concern focuses on the short term, while ignoring a longer-term risk if measures aren\u2019t taken to protect the industry. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf Canadian manufacturers continue to disappear, Canadians will ultimately have fewer domestic suppliers, less competition and fewer choices,\u201d said CKCA president Luke Elias. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will become increasingly dependent on imported products and far more vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions, trade disputes, currency fluctuations and decisions made outside of Canada,\u201d Elias said in an email to CTV News. \u201cThat is not a stronger marketplace for consumers. It is one with less resilience, less competition and, ultimately, higher prices.\u201d <\/p>\n

The federal government hasn\u2019t responded to the request yet \u2013 nor has it ruled it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is closely monitoring imports and continues to assess whether additional action is warranted while the CITT inquiry is ongoing,\u201d John Fragos, a spokesperson for the finance minister, told CTV News in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has been in constant partnership with the forestry and wood sector and, through consultation with stakeholders, introduced a myriad measures to better support the sector, understanding the vital role it plays in rural and remote communities across the country \u2013 and in propelling the economy ahead,\u201d read part of the statement. <\/p>\n

Ouzilleau took CTV News on a tour of the entire production in Coaticook, located in the Eastern Townships, 15 minutes from the Canada-U.S. border shared with Vermont. <\/p>\n

With the plant only operating at half capacity, he showed us multiple machines sitting silent and an area used as storage, waiting for a fourth line complete with robot that was supposed to be up and running. <\/p>\n

He says layoffs at his plant impact the broader supply chain, as well as the local economy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we produce less cabinets, guess what? In the forest, they\u2019re cutting less trees, and the sawmills don\u2019t have as much work. It\u2019s the whole supply chain that is suffering, down to the local restaurant in Coaticook.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COATICOOK, Que. \u2013 Even though there are up to 15,000 moving parts on any given day at Alain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[712,45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-808778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-apple-news","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}