News - Canadian entrepreneurs are encountering difficulties due to trade tariffs.

In Belleville, Ontario, Canadian muralist Tina Nguyen has witnessed her flourishing hair-accessory business, XXL Scrunchie & Co., become an unintended casualty of shifting trade policies. Six years ago, Nguyen craftily turned creativity into commerce, launching a business that garners significant traction online, driven by US shoppers. However, the warmth of holiday sales has markedly dimmed under the shadow of tariffs introduced by President Trump. These protectionist measures have severely impacted both the bottom line and future prospects of her business, which depends heavily on American consumers—accounting for a substantial half of her business journey. Faced with this commercial squeeze, the 32-year-old entrepreneur has made the difficult decision to close her shop in January. Instead, she will channel her artistic energies full-time into her mural art, recognizing the need to adapt in a landscape that offered little hope for recovery from these trade-induced setbacks. Nguyen’s story mirrors the struggle of many Canadian small-business owners whose dreams are stifled amidst a challenging economic climate this holiday season. The season, typically a culmination of consumer enthusiasm, has revealed broader vulnerabilities within small businesses hit hardest by such cross-border economic policies.