Toronto business facing impacts of tariff uncertainty
A Toronto-based manufacturing business, Crown Cookware, is struggling due to tariff uncertainty and trade tensions with the United States. The owner highlights the difficulty of competing with foreign imports while facing restricted access to the American market.
Why it matters
This illustrates the real-world impact of international trade policies and protectionism on small, family-run businesses.
David Paul Vella has been at Crown Cookware since the beginning. The family-run manufacturing business has been making pots, pans and tins for over four decades. After watching the business almost close in 2023, he knows all to well the struggles that come with an uncertain economy.
“We’re probably running about 40 to 50 per cent right now,” Vella tells OMNI News. “We should be running closer to 75 but two of our biggest customers sell everything that they make, 90 per cent, to the U.S., and they haven’t sold much this year.”
With trade tensions threatening Canadian businesses, Crown Cookware is not immune to the U.S. tariffs on aluminum, having no other choice but to switch to foreign suppliers.
“Aluminum loves to travel,” says Vella. “It’s one of the only resources Canada doesn’t have.”
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