With more tariffs expected, small Sask. businesses say they're already feeling effects of trade war

With the looming spectre of more U.S. tariffs expected this week and Canadian counter-tariffs threatened, on top of those already imposed, some small businesses in Saskatchewan say they're feeling the pinch.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will impose more tariffs on Canada as of Wednesday, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed Canada will retaliate in kind.

That comes after Trump slapped a 25 per cent tariff on virtually all Canadian goods early last month, prompting 25 per cent counter-tariffs on American goods from Canada.

"There have been tariffs that have been in place already, so we're already seeing some price increases on certain products," said Garry Koebel, co-owner of the Sputtergotch Toy Company in Swift Current, Sask.

"For instance, on the gaming side of things, everything from Pokémon cards to hockey cards to board games, we're seeing price increases on those already."

Koebel said one of his big decisions is how much of the increased cost will they be able to absorb, and how much will have to be passed on to the customer.

"And a lot of our suppliers are kind of in frozen mode at the moment here, because there's so much uncertainty," he said.

Many of his suppliers are already trying to figure out their production for the next Christmas season.

"They're uncertain what the input costs are going to be. They're going to be uncertain about what their customers are going to be wanting to purchase," said Koebel.

"So it's just that constant flux of uncertainty that really is kind of paralyzing business at the moment here."

Tariffs could also rewrite the future of your favourite local bookstore.

One of the proposed countermeasures Canada is looking at is tariffs on books printed in the U.S.

Peter Garden, who owns Turning the Tide Bookstore in Saskatoon, said like many industries, the publishing business, along with its related supply chain, is deeply integrated between the two countries.

"It's going to be very difficult to separate out Canadian-authored and published books from American ones, and very likely those Canadian-authored books are going to get caught up in these counter-tariffs," he said.