East Kootenay businesses have been seeing success after diversifying their trade following U.S. tariffs.
Export adviser Michael Hoher said Canada’s efforts to pivot to other markets are helping offset shortfalls caused by the United States.
“Beautifully so, between the European Union, China and especially the United Kingdom, we almost made up for a shortfall for at least the year 2025, which shows us immediately the power of market diversification,” he said.
Hoher said a local e-commerce company that had an 80-20 sales mix in favour of the U.S. saw the writing on the wall in late 2024 and was able to flip that ratio.
“They turned off the marketing campaigns in the US entirely, switched it to Canada full blast and within 7-8 months, it turned the ratio from 80-20 to 20-80 in Canada’s favour,” he added.
“That was without a loss on the top line and without a loss on the bottom.”
He said another local manufacture pivoted away from the U.S. and was able to immediately secure a $5 million contract in South Korea.
Hoher said the tariffs have been very difficult on businesses, but other opportunities are out there it will just take effort.
