Jean-François Dufresne is worried about the future of his industry.
The president and CEO of Preverco, a major Canadian hardwood flooring producer, says new U.S. tariffs announced Friday by the Trump administration threaten to devastate the sector, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
“Overnight, we’re losing 25 per cent of our business,” Dufresne said.
“There is no way that we can pass those tariffs, and there is no way we can absorb them. So essentially, that business is gone overnight.”
On Friday, the Trump administration announced a major shift in the tariffs the United States applies on Canadian goods, removing several products off its targeted list and replacing them with new items.
Among the products now affected are shampoos, soaps, certain paints, cocoa products, carpets, and wood products that include flooring.
Dufresne says placing these tariffs on his industry puts thousands of jobs at risk. Jobs could be lost in a matter of weeks because without the United States, producers like him have limited markets for their products.
“The flooring industry represents many thousands of jobs. And then, when that goes down, it’s going to affect the sawmills, and that’s another bunch of thousands of jobs. And when that goes down, it’s going to affect the lumber guys, the ones who are, you know, harvesting the lumber,” Dufresne said. “And then the villages where these people work — the grocery store, the pharmacy, all these things will start to shut down because the entire region is based on that lumber industry.”
Political calculations in the U.S.
There is a sense of urgency, and panic, in the flooring industry over these new tariffs. In large part, this is because they were unexpected and have nothing to do with anything the industry may have done.
“Ultimately, there’s $3.4 billion of products being added, $3.4 billion of products being removed. So, it all comes out in the wash from an economic perspective as a whole,” said William Pellerin, an international trade lawyer and former deputy director for North America trade with Global Affairs Canada.
“We know a lot of this is being driven by Senator Susan Collins out of Maine, who is in a political battle for her re-election life,” Pellerin said. “So, a lot of the products that came off are products that they needed in that state and were causing affordability concerns. It’s all about tweaking at the margins, but it has a massive impact on Canada.”
It is an assessment backed up by Eric Ham, CTV News’ U.S. political analyst.
Maine’s economy is closely tied to Canadian trade, and U.S. tariffs have hurt industries in the state. With affordability concerns mounting and U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings under pressure, Republicans risk losing ground there, observers say.
Ham says the White House is responding to those political pressures.
“This is all political,” Ham said. “What the president is finally recognizing is that not only are these tariffs, but the way the president has been treating Canada simply has not gone over well for him politically. So, the president is doing everything he can to try to help shore up his base and many of those very vulnerable Republicans. Which is why we see the president making this move to help one of those embattled Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine.”
But the U.S. midterm elections are not Dufresne’s primary concern.
He wants to know what Ottawa will do to help Canadian flooring producers weather the tariffs. Dufresne has written to federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne requesting a meeting.
He is also urging the federal government to impose a 100 per cent surtax on hardwood flooring imported into Canada from countries such as China.
In his letter, Dufresne describes the proposed measure as provisional and calls for it to take effect no later than Oct. 30, when the new U.S. tariffs are set to kick in.
Dufresne says Canadian producers need a clear indication that Ottawa is prepared to act before they can justify continuing to invest in their businesses.
“Unless there is something, a hope that the government is going to change the Canadian landscape, it doesn’t make sense to keep throwing money at this if it’s not going to go anywhere,” he said.
“And once it’s gone, it’s not going to come back.”
