It's another blow to retailers still recovering from the pandemic, said Select Shooting Supplies owner Dean Carr when talking about retaliatory tariffs placed on U.S. goods.
The Cambridge retailer of guns, ammo and hunting accessories, is one of dozens of local retailers already taking a hit from a weak Canadian dollar.
Now he's expecting to see many of the products he imports for sale in his Preston Parkway showroom to get hit with a 25 per cent tariff when he makes his next order.
Several U.S. manufactured firearms were among the list of items slapped with retaliatory Canadian tariffs earlier this month in response to the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Complicating the tariff situation is the fact that while an estimated 90 per cent of firearms are manufactured in the U.S., some components are not covered by the tariffs leaving retailers scrambling to figure out what to expect.
Carr, who operates Range 519 and now considers the retail portion of the business a sideline to that, said he's trying not to give too much thought to the ever-changing trade dispute knowing he has at least a few months of runway before he'll have to bite the bullet and restock.
"If I stressed about it, I'd have a heart attack," he said, calling Canada's response "childish" and something that will only end up hurting Canadian small businesses and consumers.
And while he doesn't think the federal government or the provinces should bow down to Trump's demands, he doesn't believe retaliatory tariffs are the answer.
"Two wrongs don't make a right," he said. "We're not going to win against the U.S."
Carr is, however, optimistic the situation could change following an election and believes Trump's motives, in part, lie in a desire to see a change in leadership in Ottawa.
On the other side of the city, motorcycle sales rep at Blackbridge Harley Davidson Sachi Bonga said everyone in his line of business is worried about tariffs but it's not something he's losing sleep over just yet.
"Absolutely" sales could be impacted, he said while looking over a showroom filled with gleaming motorcycles from the legendary American motorcycle company. "These are toys. These are leisure items."
Sales at the Cambridge dealership were up over the last few months as the threat of tariffs loomed and customers rushed to get ahead of anticipated price hikes, he said.
And so far nothing has changed at the Holiday Inn Drive dealership despite motorcycles making the list of $30 billion worth of U.S. goods targeted by Canadian countermeasures on March 4.
Fortunately, Blackbridge's latest shipment of bikes and accessories escaped that first volley of Canadian tariffs.
But if nothing changes and Canada's tariffs stay in place as they exhaust their inventory, Bonga expects customers will begin to see hang-tag prices change.
It could mean a bike priced at $23,000 now would cost $6,000 more before taxes.
That price hike, the result of the 25 per cent tariff on the Milwaukee-built bikes, could put a lot of local Harley customers on the fence.
Bonga said most of those customers are working class people with limited disposable incomes. Their median age is 45 and they've often saved for years to be able to afford a leisure purchase like a Harley.
But that's only in a normal economic environment, he said.
Only about five per cent of customers are in the category he calls recession proof, where a $6,000 price hike won't be a factor.
As for the buy-Canadian sentiment affecting sales, Bonga said it's unlikely to have an impact since Harley customers are very brand loyal.
There is no comparable Canadian, European or Asian alternative, he said. The only other option that comes close is Indian Motorcycles and they're manufactured in Iowa.