Canadian businesses and industry leaders are bracing for the full effects of fresh 50 per cent U.S. tariffs, crossing their fingers that domestic support will come quickly.

Prime Minister Mark Carney called his negotiating team back to Ottawa on Friday night after trade talks fell apart in the 11th hour because of what he said were “unreasonable” requests from the U.S.

Negotiators are no longer at the bargaining table, so U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened 50 per cent tariffs are in force, covering a range of Canadian products, from wood furniture and cement to plywood and wine.

Ron Kubek, owner of Lightning Rock Winery in B.C., was able to ship an order worth $20,000 to Washington state this week, getting there before the tariffs came into effect just after midnight Saturday.

Kubek, who has been trying to grow his business in the U.S., said that shipment will be his last one south of the border for the time being because of the new tariffs.

“That cheque when it clears will be the last one I get from the USA right now.”

For Kathleen Chapman, president of aVenco, which makes parchment baking paper in Canada and sells across North America, the hit to her Bowmanville, Ont.-based business will be big since 30 to 40 per cent of her product are sent to the U.S. 

Beyond the immediate revenue losses she’s expecting, Chapman said the back-and-forth trade war has created a “freeze reaction” among her American customers, hurting her business’s ability to plan for the future.

“There’s so much uncertainty that no one is really confident to move forward with discussions or sign long-term contracts,” Chapman said.

Who will feel tariffs most?

The new sweeping tariff slate covers some $28 billion worth of Canadian exports, or about five per cent of products sent south of the border.

While the estimated impact on the broader economy might be relatively small, the hit won’t be felt evenly across Canada and certain sectors will feel it more. 

A recent estimate from Oxford Economics found that manufacturers, especially ones making items like plastic, chemicals, cement and concrete — businesses that are concentrated in Quebec and Ontario — would feel the pain most.

With negotiators no longer at the table, Dennis Darby, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), said manufacturers now face the “worst of all worlds.”

Many CME members have been struggling under sectoral…