Canadian businesses are continuing to find alternative markets to the U.S.

Even as tariff negotiations are ongoing between Canada and the United States, businesses aren't waiting for good news and are looking for alternative markets to the U.S.

A manufacturer of capsules and tablets for the pharmaceuticals industry is scouting Asia for new partners. A steel component maker, with a client base in the United States stretching back 35 years, is telling customers to expect to pay higher prices. Another company, that produces mascot costumes for sporting or school events, is lowering its prices so as not to lose American customers.

President Donald Trump’s tariff war – and his repeated threats to annex Canada – are upending decades of close trade ties between the two North American neighbors, and prompting many small-scale Canadian manufacturing firms to revise their long-term business strategies.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who led the Liberal party to victory last month by campaigning to stand up to Trump, is scheduled to meet the U.S. President at the White House on Tuesday. He has repeatedly said the old relationship with the United States is over.

Even if the U.S. forges a new trade agreement with Canada, Trump’s erratic policy and the uncertainty of doing business with the U.S. will persist, according to interviews with more than a dozen companies, advisors, trade lawyers and associations.

“If you are a smart, savvy business person, you are not going to jump right back into another arrangement where you are totally reliant on a U.S. partner,” said Mike Chisholm, who runs a consultancy for Canadian exporters.

“Owners want stability, banks want stability, private equity funds want stability,” he said. “They are just going to be very, very careful.”

Canada, which has historically depended on U.S. markets for 75 per cent of its exports, was one of the first countries hit by Trump’s tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs as a way to hold Canada accountable for fentanyl entering the U.S. – although data shows less than one per cent of all seizures come from across the Canadian border.