Last time I wrote about local florists and the Slow Flowers movement, I got a comment from a reader, Sheena, who said, “I did smile when you described Canada as ‘local.’” She was right to smile.
Canada goes well beyond what I think of “local” when it comes to its garden and floral-related exports to the United States. We are by far the largest destination for Canada’s floriculture and nursery-related exports. In 2023, we took in more than a billion Canadian dollars worth, 99.6% of the country’s output, according to a statistical overview produced by the Canadian government.
A piece of purely floral info: Though we get the bulk of our cut flowers from Columbia, Ecuador and the Netherlands, Canada follows right behind them.
Obviously, threatened tariffs can affect this garden-related business, one of countless that rely on a stable relationship with a northern neighbor.
Both florists and plant shops are worried because, although the timing of the tariffs, as we’re now unpleasantly accustomed to, is subject to the vagaries of President Trump’s chaotic – and senseless – trade war, industries and markets are already feeling the effects.
Gardening is probably low man on the totem poll in terms of scariness – Trump is now threatening to shut down Canada’s auto industry – but I thought some readers would be interested in the tight relationship we have with Canada, flower and gardening-wise.
In Buffalo, the garden centers are still a bit sleepy, but houseplant shops and florists are on edge. My friend Johanna owns a great shop, Put a Plant on It. She has already been getting notes from her Canadian suppliers, who are certain they will take a big financial hit, and are figuring out ways to make it easier on people like Johanna, who says, “It’s stressful for everybody and our growers are trying to figure it out. We have not raised prices at all in the (almost) 5 years we been open. We’ve in fact lowered a lot of prices because there’s more availability now as opposed to during Covid.”
Interesting that she mentions Covid. It’s not the first time I have heard comparisons of the fear/uncertainty of those days and the “what next?!” we’re experiencing now.
I have to wonder: Are we great yet? And how is terrorizing small businesses on either side of a border known for its friendliness supposed to help with that greatness?
In Johanna’s business, as with many larger ones, including the auto industry, elements move back and forth across borders. Florida may get tissue culture from China, then send plant material to Canada which then could make its way back into the U.S. In the end, we’re punishing ourselves as much as other countries. Of course, it was news to me that Canada had to be punished.
Though I am not sure tariffs on growers are yet in place – I don’t think they are – the Canadian suppliers have a plan, as one told Johanna: “We will list the tariffs separately on your invoices reflecting the 25% tariff we are required to collect and remit directly to U.S. Customs. We will then reduce our selling price by 12.5%.”
What is gained by this?
The economics of a plant shop is a relatively minor example – and I am sure the green industry will experience larger disruption. But people don’t need to buy plants and current policies aimed at Canada are one way to assure that inflation-weary consumers find a reason to pass plant shops – and greenhouses – by.
Picture at top: Johanna recently offered a discount to federal workers who may be facing the unreasoning chainsaw of equally senseless firings.
Green businesses will feel the pain of tariffs originally appeared on GardenRant on March 11, 2025.
The post Green businesses will feel the pain of tariffs appeared first on GardenRant.