U.S. tariffs have already impacted Canada’s only hockey stick factory, according to The Hockey News owner Graeme Roustan.
Roustan, who also owns Roustan Hockey in Brantford, Ont., appeared on CNN, CBC and BNN Bloomberg this week to discuss the effects of the looming trade war between the United States and Canada on his hockey stick business.
While the American Canadian dual citizen said that depending on the year, about 30 to 40 percent of the inventory goes to the United States, including NHL teams and retailers, revenue can be higher. With tariffs, customers have become hesitant.
“A lot of our customers are big customers, like I said, NHL teams, and they order 10,000 sticks at a time, and those invoices are six-figure invoices, and of course, they have the question, “Will there be a 25 percent additional tax added to my invoice?’ ” Roustan told CBC’s Ian Hanomansing on Tuesday. “And we haven’t been able to tell them, one way or the other.”
That means they’re waiting to see what happens. Roustan said on BNN Bloomberg on Friday the customers understand they would cover the extra costs, but they may pass the cost along to their clients as well.
In U.S. president Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement on Wednesday, he imposed 25 percent on global auto imports and announced a baseline 10 percent fee on all imports, but Canada is reportedly exempt from the latter. Nevertheless, tariffs imposed on Canada in March and Canada’s retaliatory measures remain in place.
“It’s totally ridiculous,” Roustan told CNN before Wednesday’s announcement. “This business here has been in place for 178 years and it’s been selling product and trading product with the United States since before Canada was a country.”
Despite the trade war concerns, the “buy Canadian” trend has made a difference, Roustan told CBC. He says Canadian Tire plans to increase its order for 2025 by 30 percent over 2024 as customers want made-in-Canada hockey sticks.
“Really, I am blown away by the desire across Canada to buy made-in-Canada hockey sticks,” he said, adding he launched Stix.com in January for direct sales. “Our sales have doubled in the last month alone.”