SURREY, B.C. – A British Columbia packaging company says the trade war with the United States is creating an unexpected opportunity for Canadian manufacturers and prompting rival companies to collaborate rather than compete.
CanCorr manufactures corrugated cardboard. The U.S. is its No. 1 market, where it ships roughly 800 million square feet of cardboard sheets per year, worth about $80 million.
Company co-founder Baha Naemi said the U.S. relies on Canadian companies like his for the sheets, which is why those products were left off the latest tariff list.
“In terms of Canadian costs, Canadian paper, everything is different and they don’t want to lose that benefit of receiving Canadian sheets.”
But fully assembled cardboard boxes, which the Naemi family ownership group also produces at another facility, are subject to tariffs. And while Canada produces more sheets than it brings in, Naemi said a lot of Canadian businesses actually purchase their assembled boxes from the U.S.
That created an opportunity “for us to actually ramp up our production of boxes and give Canadian businesses a domestic option,” Naemi said.
Call your competitors: Naemi
They began talking to competitors, suppliers and industry associations to determine whether Canadian manufacturers had enough capacity to replace imported boxes.
“The answer was overwhelmingly ‘yes,’” Naemi said.
He added the experience has demonstrated the importance of co-operation, even among companies that normally compete for the same customers.
“That is the biggest lesson we’ve learned,” he said. “Don’t shy away from picking up the phone and calling your competitors, your suppliers, and having a real conversation.”
He said Canadian manufacturers could collectively replace hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of U.S.-made boxes, which are now subject to Canadian counter-tariffs, helping businesses avoid additional costs while keeping more of the work in Canada.
The company is now trying to connect more Canadian customers with domestic packaging suppliers, using sales representatives and online outreach to promote the idea of “buying Canadian” where possible.
CanCorr has also been making longer-term changes to reduce its reliance on U.S. raw materials.
Historically, about 80 per cent of the paper used by the company came from the U.S., with the remainder sourced internationally. It has now flipped that equation, Naemi said, with about 80 per cent coming from international suppliers and Eastern Canada, and about 20 per cent from the U.S., primarily for specialty paper.
A paper change Naemi said is intended to be permanent.
