Amid the trade war, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has highlighted new data estimating that US tariffs, Canadian counter-tariffs, or both have directly affected 53,112 businesses, of which 45,414 are importers, and 13,160 are exporters.
“While government has made a few important and welcome changes to the main tariff supports, the programs continue to exclude about half of the small business community,” said Corinne Pohlmann, CFIB executive vice-president for advocacy, in a media release. “We have been telling government that the counter-tariffs would have a far broader impact than the U.S. tariffs.”
Given the extent of the impact, Pohlmann described programs supporting only a few thousand businesses as unacceptable.
CFIB instead recommended the following measures to help deal with the trade war:
- a small business tariff relief (SBTR) program
- a small and medium enterprises (SME) desk for tariff remissions
- a three-percent reduction in the small business corporate tax rate
- a $200,000 increase in the small business deduction threshold
“We need a simple, direct support program to help small businesses on the U.S. and Canadian tariff lists in addition to broad-based tax relief to help all small firms that will be hurt by the trade war,” Pohlmann said.
Pohlmann stressed the importance of immediate support in light of the recent “announcement that some Canadian goods will be outright banned from US import at the end of the month.”
Small business tariff relief
Through its suggested SBTR program, CFIB explained that affected exporters and importers can avail of a maximum initial tariff relief of $70,000 upon giving direct evidence that they directly paid the tariffs or adjusted their prices to absorb part or all of the tariffs.
Small and medium enterprise desk
According to CFIB, its recommended SME desk for tariff remissions can hasten decisions on abolishing Canadian retaliatory tariffs in the event of significant negative industry impacts or in the absence of readily available alternatives to US products.
Small business tax relief
CFIB called for immediate tax relief for small businesses by reducing the small business corporate tax rate to six percent from nine percent, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026. CFIB also sought to raise the small business deduction threshold to $700,000 from $500,000, with future indexation to inflation.
“The Regional Tariff Response Initiative Programs have standardized eligibility criteria and reduced their access thresholds down to $1 million, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Pohlmann said in CFIB’s media release. “A $1-million threshold will still exclude a huge number of businesses.”
More cross-border news
Here are some other recent news stories involving cross-border matters.
In August, the premiers of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories and the presidents of CFIB, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce reacted to the suspension of the Canada-US trade discussions and the new US tariffs on Canadian goods.
In July, Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, announced the opening of public consultations to help inform potential changes in connection with the administration of the tariff-rate quotas for certain steel imports, as identified in the Import Control List’s item 82.
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