Local business owners say there’s a disconnect between the desire to Buy B.C. and actually doing so
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It’s been a roller-coaster 19 months for local fashion and beauty businesses.
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As Canada and the U.S. engage in yet another round of blow-for-blow tariffs, businesses caught in the crossfire have had to be nimble in an attempt to adapt measures such as sourcing of material and navigating international sales and shipping logistics across borders.
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“We’ve had to make countless pivots and investments in order to maintain our revenue,” says Jess Sternberg, owner of the Vancouver-based brand Free Label, of the Canada-U.S. tariff turmoil.
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But while the push among shoppers to Buy B.C. has helped raise awareness of local brands, it hasn’t quite moved the needle in the way that business owners had hoped.
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Introduced in February 2025, the first round of action saw tariffs impact a broad sweep of consumer goods from Canada. Then, on Aug. 22, the U.S. introduced tariffs on some $27.6 billion worth of Canadian exports, including a 50 per cent hit on Canadian-made clothing. Canada is set to introduce retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods on Sept. 8. This round of tariffs will include 50 per cent on beauty and makeup and 25 per cent on clothes coming into Canada.
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Keeping up with the changes has been a major hurdle for Free Label, which makes 98 per cent of its products in Canada using fabric that’s more than 50 per cent milled domestically.
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“It has taken away from our day-to-day business tasks and limited our creativity and growth,” Sternberg says. “Because it’s been so expensive and time consuming, we no longer ship to the U.S.A., which is where we previous sold approximately 40 per cent of our goods to.”
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Now the company is focusing on its customers in Canada and other parts of the globe.
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The challenge for local brands lies not only in the export of their finished products, but also the importing of the raw materials required to make them.
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“Shipping, production lead times and inventory management have all become more complicated due to new shipping processes and the uncertainty around what may change next,” says Allison Audrey Weldon, founder and CEO of the Bowen Island-based beauty brand Sangra de Fruta. “It’s also made us look even more closely at our supply chain — where every ingredient and component comes from, and where we may be exposed to additional costs or delays.”
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While its products are made in B.C., the botanical ingredients used to make the soaps, skin-care and body products are sourced from all around the world including the U.S. For now, Weldon says the brand’s U.S.-sourced additives have yet to be hit with tariffs.
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“Many of the plants we use grow best in very specific parts of the world, so sourcing internationally is an important part of what we do,” says Weldon.
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Amid the continuing trade war, there’s been a renewed movement calling on consumers to Buy Canadian or Buy B.C. and keep their dollars at home.
