Employers in Morden-Winkler manufacturing hub planning to pivot, prioritize workers amid tariffs

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

From furniture making to tractor cab manufacturing, the Morden-Winkler country successful confederate Manitoba is simply a manufacturing hub known for its innovation and resourcefulness.

Now, the duplicate cities and their industries employing thousands of workers astir 80 km southwest of Winnipeg look a communal problem: American levies connected Canadian goods and this country's retaliatory tariffs.

U.S. President Donald Trump said past period helium was pausing his 25 per cent levy connected immoderate Canadian goods until April 2.

Canada is applying its ain tariffs to astir $60 cardinal worthy of American goods arsenic payback for Trump's border- and metals-related levies, with different astir $100 billion worthy to travel if Trump goes up with a 3rd circular of what he's calling "reciprocal" tariffs connected goods from astir the satellite successful aboriginal April.

In the Morden-Winkler area, the on-again, off-again dates person added to the concerns and frustrations felt astatine Decor Cabinets, but Morden's largest leader says it's committed to prioritizing its workers contempt the ups and downs of concern and the caller quality cycle.

"It's truly stressful, not lone conscionable the...financial interaction would beryllium huge, right, but conscionable the accent of wondering, is it going to beryllium oregon isn't it going to be?" CEO and president Stan Pauls said.

He precocious gave CBC News a circuit of his facility, wherever alder, maple and walnut wood gets crafted into customized bath and room cabinets.

Pauls glides from presumption to station, greeting employees by sanction and recalling stories from his 36 years with Decor.

The company, founded successful 1977, present employs astir 540 people, who marque and vessel astir 100,000 cabinets each year, Pauls says. That comes retired to astir 20 kitchens a day.

He says fractional their customers are successful the United States.

"If they had to wage 25 per cent much for our product, it would virtually halt america from selling into [the] U.S."

And so, Decor has arranged to arsenic stock the outgo of the 25 per cent levy with its American dealers if the tariff goes up April 2, Pauls said — a program that would beryllium temporary.

He says the terms tag per furniture connected some sides of the borderline volition apt increase.

Winkler's Tektite Manufacturing Inc. — another of the astir 80 manufacturers successful the area, according to Statistics Canada —  is dealing with uncertainty, too.

American customers relationship for astir 30 per cent of their tractor cab sales, and contention successful the U.S. is stiff, wide manager and president Ted Mahood said Tuesday. 

In the past month, they've expedited orders to clients, but Mahood fears those requests could adust up rapidly successful the look of American tariffs, helium said.

"Were that to happen, you know, past you've got the consequential results of apt a precise hard recession successful Canada, and of course, past that's going to impact our home income arsenic well, truthful it's troubling," helium said.

From cutting to welding, his crews assemble arsenic galore arsenic 850 cabs for compact and smaller tractors each year, selling to clients, including John Deere, mostly successful eastbound Canada and the U.S., Mahood said.

Tektite gets astir of its parts from Canada, but for glass, which they root southbound of the border, helium said.

Mahood worries Canada's retaliatory tariffs could yet wounded them, too.

"We're ever looking astatine alternate sources. I mean, COVID taught america that. You cognize that you can't trust connected 1 source," helium said.

Layoffs past resort: Decor

The Winkler Chamber of Commerce says Winkler unsocial has astatine slightest 4,500 radical moving successful the sector.

President Doug Eidse says the past mates of months person demanded a batch of preparation, with calls often going retired to borderline brokers and experts to grasp the interaction and scope of the tariffs.

Some section companies are already dealing with a 25 per cent American levy connected aluminum and steel, which came into effect March 12, Eidse said Tuesday.

Although helium believes they whitethorn inactive beryllium capable to vie fixed the accrued alloy prices successful the U.S., Eidse said he's acrophobic adjacent much sweeping tariffs could pb to companies downsizing and customers opting for products elsewhere.

"Another 25 per cent across-the-board tariff would decidedly origin layoffs," Eidse said. "That would impact everybody importing oregon exporting."

As a tiny specialized concern with 25 employees, Mahood says helium wants to debar that — arsenic does the larger but close-knit Decor team.

Pauls says they person astir 50 couples connected staff, on with galore newcomers.

"We're supporting the full family, the full household. I consciousness a weight, right? We person to marque definite that these people, we're doing each we tin to springiness them, proceed to springiness them jobs, right?" Pauls said.

"We instrumentality that 1 precise personal."

For now, helium says income are strong, but they're exploring each options, specified arsenic cutting costs and delaying a ample enlargement project, on with looking for different markets and taking vantage of a national work-share programme for affected businesses announced earlier this month.