Trumps Tariffs Push Canadian Companies to Look Past American Links
Before President Trump returned to office, unleashing a trade war featuring special animus toward Canada, Michael Goldstein saw his Vancouver start-up as complementary to American interests.His company, Accelovant, makes temperature sensors used to produce computer chips — the brains of modern manufacturing.Canada and the United States shared an interest in limiting their dependence on chip factories in Asia.
He was supplying critical components, many of which were being made in the United States.But Mr.Trump’s denunciation of America’s relationship with Canada has upended that arrangement.
Accelovant is in the midst of a time-consuming, expensive process to shift production from its American factory to a plant in Southeast Asia.The company recently received a $1 million grant from the Canadian government to accelerate plans to reduce its dependence on the United States.
Like much of the Canadian business world, Mr.Goldstein is adapting to what many now view as a foundational rearrangement: The United States can no longer be trusted as a reliable trading partner.“This is the new new,” Mr.
Goldstein said recently.“Canada is busting its ass to get out and diversify its markets.
This has been a lesson learned.I think it will never go back.”No one with working knowledge of international business assumes the United States and Canada can easily be pried apart.
As neighbors, military allies and charter members of the North American trading bloc, they have been extraordinarily intertwined for decades.Even a marginal reduction of economic ties would entail turmoil, bureaucratic torment and a potential downgrading of fortunes.American auto manufacturers rely on Canadian factories for parts that often cross the border multiple times before being folded into finished vehicles.
The pumping of oil and natural gas in the United States frequently depends on pipes made in Canada.Last year, the two countries exchanged goods worth more than $715 billion.We are ha...