Tariffs Have Changed Again: What Canadian Business Owners Should Be Doing Now

By Lil Rourke, CPA, Founder & Fractional CFO – Rourke, CPA Professional Corporation

Published September 8, 2026 | Category: Finance for Impact | Approx. 7-minute read

If you’ve found it difficult to keep track of the tariff announcements this year, you’re certainly not alone.

The rules have changed several times, new measures have been announced on both sides of the border, and Canadian businesses are trying to understand what all of this actually means for them.

And as of September 8, the landscape has changed again.

Effective September 8, 2026, Canada has imposed new counter-tariffs of 15%, 25% and 50% on approximately $27.6 billion of products imported from the United States. The measures affect a wide range of goods, with particular concentration in areas including steel and aluminum, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics.

But for business owners, I think there is a much more important point:

You don’t have to import directly from the United States to be affected.

Your suppliers may rely on U.S. products or components. Your customers may be facing increased costs of their own. Equipment, packaging, materials and other inputs may become more expensive. And businesses selling into the U.S. may be dealing with tariffs from the other direction.

Trying to predict what governments will do next probably isn't the best use of a business owner's time.

Instead, I think there is a much more useful question to ask:

What does this mean for my business—and what can I do about it?

1. Start by understanding your exposure

Before changing prices, suppliers or purchasing decisions, determine where the risk actually exists.

Look at your major purchases and suppliers. Which products originate in the United States? Which suppliers rely on U.S. inputs? Have any suppliers already announced price increases or tariff surcharges?

For businesses importing directly, the Government of Canada maintains a detailed list of U.S.-origin products currently subject to Canadian counter-tariffs. Your customs broker or other trade professional can also help confirm the applicable tariff classification and treatment.

But don't stop at direct imports.

A Canadian supplier may also be purchasing U.S. materials or components and passing some or all of those increased costs along to you. That means your tariff exposure may be hidden several steps back in your supply chain.

Understanding that exposure is the starting point.

2. Put some numbers around it

Once you've identified where your costs could increase, quantify the impact.

This doesn't need to begin with an elaborate financial model. Start with a few reasonable scenarios.

What happens if affected input costs increase by 5%? What about 10% or 20%?

Then look at what those changes do to:

• Gross profit and gross margin

• Profitability by product or service

• Cash flow

• Inventory requirements

• Working capital

• Financing needs

The important distinction is between knowing that tariffs might affect your business and understanding what that could actually mean in dollars.

For example, one business may discover that a significant tariff on a particular component has a relatively modest impact on its total product cost.

Another may discover that what initially appeared to be a manageable cost increase materially changes the profitability of one of its largest product lines.

Those situations require very different responses.

3. Revisit your pricing—but don't automatically pass along the tariff percentage

When costs increase, the natural reaction is often to increase prices.

That may be appropriate. But the amount of the price increase shouldn't automatically equal the tariff rate.

A 25% tariff on one component does not necessarily mean the selling price of the finished product needs to increase by 25%.

Instead, determine how much the affected input contributes to your total cost, what happens to your margin at the current selling price, and how much of the increase needs—or can reasonably be—passed along to your customer.

Depending on the business, the answer could be a general price increase, a targeted increase on particular products, a temporary tariff surcharge, a supplier change, a product change or even accepting a lower margin for a period of time.

Pricing decisions should start with the numbers, not with a reaction to the headline.

4. Take another look at your supply chain

Periods of disruption have a way of exposing risks that were already there.

If an important product or component comes from only one supplier, what happens if its price increases substantially or availability changes?

Could the product be sourced in Canada? Is there a reliable non-U.S. alternative? Would a different material or component work?

At the same time, don't assume that “buy Canadian” will automatically produce the lowest cost.

The real comparison should include total landed cost, quality, lead times, minimum order quantities, freight, exchange rates, payment terms and reliability.

A slightly more expensive supplier may ultimately be the better choice if it provides greater stability. Conversely, completely restructuring a supply chain to avoid a temporary tariff may create more cost and disruption than it solves.

This is where scenario planning becomes particularly useful.

5. Pay close attention to cash flow

This is an area that can easily be overlooked.

Tariffs may create a cash-flow problem before they create a profitability problem.

Consider a business carrying $500,000 of inventory. Even if it ultimately passes higher costs along to customers, it may need considerably more cash to purchase and carry that inventory before the increased selling prices are collected.

Higher costs can therefore increase the amount of working capital tied up in the business.

Now is a good time to revisit your cash-flow forecast and consider:

• Are inventory purchases going to require more cash?

• Can inventory levels be reduced without affecting operations?

• Are customers paying within agreed terms?

• Can supplier payment terms be renegotiated?

• Is there sufficient room on the company's operating line?

• Should financing arrangements be reviewed before additional cash is required?

  
  

It's much easier to have a conversation with your lender while the business is performing well than when cash is already tight.

6. Find out whether assistance or tariff relief is available

The federal government has announced additional support for Canadian businesses and workers affected by U.S. tariffs.

Recent measures include additional funding through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, along with other financing and liquidity programs intended to help businesses adapt to tariff-related pressures.

There is also a federal tariff-remission process.

Remission is intended for exceptional circumstances and may be considered, for example, where goods used as business inputs cannot reasonably be sourced domestically or from non-U.S. suppliers.

These programs will not apply to every business, and eligibility requirements matter. But if tariffs are creating a significant cost for your business, it's worth determining whether assistance or relief is available rather than simply assuming the cost has to be absorbed.

7. Look beyond tariffs to your bigger concentration risks

Tariffs are the immediate issue, but they can also highlight a larger strategic problem.

How dependent is your business on:

• One major customer?

• One supplier?

• The U.S. market?

• A particular product?

• One industry?

Diversification doesn't necessarily mean abandoning the U.S. market or replacing every American supplier.

It means understanding where your business is vulnerable and deciding whether there are practical ways to reduce that vulnerability over time.

That might mean developing additional Canadian customers, exploring another export market, qualifying a second supplier, introducing another product line or reducing dependence on a single large customer.

Those are longer-term decisions, but today's tariff uncertainty provides a good reason to start asking the questions.

What should you be asking your accountant or CFO?

This is where good financial information becomes particularly valuable.

If tariffs could materially affect your business, some of the questions I would be asking are:

Where are we exposed? Which costs, suppliers, products and customers are most likely to be affected?

How much could this actually cost us? What does the impact look like under several reasonable scenarios?

What happens to our margins? Are particular products, services or customers significantly less profitable after the cost increase?

Do our prices need to change? If so, by how much?

What happens to cash flow? How much additional working capital could we need and when?

Do we have enough financing capacity? Would an increased operating line or other financing be appropriate?

What can we change? Are there alternative suppliers, products, markets or operating decisions that improve the outcome?

Is assistance available? Are there government programs or tariff-relief provisions worth investigating?

These are ultimately financial and strategic questions—not simply tariff questions.

Plan for uncertainty rather than trying to predict it

No one can say with certainty how long the current tariff environment will last or what the next change will be.

That doesn't mean businesses can't plan.

In fact, uncertainty makes planning more important.

Rather than trying to predict one outcome, consider several.

What does the business look like if current conditions continue for six months? A year?

What happens if costs increase further? What happens if they decline?

The goal isn't to perfectly predict what happens next.

It's to understand what different outcomes mean for your business—and know what you will do if they occur.

Final thoughts

Tariffs are ultimately a business issue, not simply a trade-policy issue.

For business owners, the important questions are practical:

What will this cost us? What happens to our margins? How much cash will we need? Can we change suppliers or pricing? And where are we more exposed than we realized?

You may not be able to control the tariff environment.

But you can understand your exposure, model the financial impact and make informed decisions before the pressure shows up in your bank account.

Need help working through the numbers?

If you're concerned about how tariffs or other cost increases could affect your business, this is a good time to revisit your margins, cash-flow forecast and financial plans.

As a CPA and fractional CFO, I help business owners turn changing circumstances into numbers they can understand—and decisions they can act on.

Let’s make your numbers meaningful—and your next steps clear.

This article provides general business information and should not be considered customs, trade, legal or financial advice specific to your circumstances. Tariff measures and government programs can change. Businesses should confirm current requirements and obtain appropriate professional advice for their particular circumstances.