A Canadian Muskoka chair maker hit hard by U.S. tariffs is considering moving the bulk of its manufacturing to the United States.
DFC Woodworks Inc. has been making outdoor wooden patio furniture including Muskoka chairs — also called Adirondack chairs — since 1955.
The Kemptville, Ont., company exports about 70 per cent of its furniture to the United States, but those goods are now subject to a steep 50 per cent U.S. duty.
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DFC Woodworks president François Bruneau says the family-run business is now saddled with a hefty tariff bill and a looming decision over whether to keep absorbing the costs, raise prices and risk seeing U.S. sales fall to zero, or move the majority of its manufacturing south of the border.
Fen Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University, says the Muskoka chair maker’s dilemma illustrates the challenges facing many Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises.
He says mom-and-pop manufacturers may lack the financial resources, diversified markets and specialized trade expertise that allow larger corporations to weather a trade war.
So let me get this straight, You have been in business since 1955. You apparently took an iconic American design chair, took steps to participate in renaming it into a “Muskoka Chair”, but did not take steps to diversify your customer base. Instead you locked yourself into one customer base, in apparently the mistaken belief that you would always be able to trust the Americans to trade fairly.
A quick study of history will show that has never been true. So here we are today. I live in BC, I have adirondack chairs, that actually are from Ontario, so clearly someone decided it was a good idea to find customers at home, that they could count on. I have never seen or heard of your products, even though i have bought similar ones out of your Province. Maybe you should think about that for a minute, before crying in your soup.
Covid 2.0 carney will bail out his Brookfield buddies big business everyone else is screwed. Not only is carney a traitor but so are his voters
If a business does not have a plan B then bye bye!
It’s not like you did not see something like this possibly happening over the last yr and a half!
If COVID did not tell you to be more ready for anything, then you need a new business plan!
Are there not lakes in other parts of the world that might need a Muskoka chair??
offices in the US and sales internationally already,not quite “mom and po”
I dont know what people want from a government bow and take it up the ass or try and have a government that stands with Canadians. You can behind our government for trying real hard to not make us the 51st state. Or just move to the states were you would be happier. Good luck on health care.
He probably voted Liberal
45 percent of manufactures are actively planning on moving south as per KMPG.
If they are not built in Canada. They can’t be Muskoka chairs, they must be American chairs
Wait till they hear about Adirondack chairs.
It’s OK, this is all part of the LPC agenda. They’ll have to move south, or apply for liberal welfare.