Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Canada-U.S. trade war hits Christmas ornaments

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Canada-U.S. trade war hits Christmas ornaments · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Among the items targeted by Trump's 50% tariffs, Christmas ornaments,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: or at least some Christmas ornaments. My next guest exclusively
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: carves small Santa statues and stands to lose 40% of
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: his business. That's his American clients. David Francis is the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: owner of the wood carving business Snow Cottage Carvings in Castlegar, B.C.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: He's been making wooden Santa sculptures for the last 34 years. David,
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  Speaker 1: it's great to have you on the program. Thanks for
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: your time.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: No, not a problem, Sarah.
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  Speaker 1: So tell me, you and I touched base a day ago,
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  Speaker 1: and you're still working through all of the effects on
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: your business. Talk to me, where do things stand right
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: now in terms of what you stand to lose, or
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  Speaker 1: have you found a loophole?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: No loopholes that I know of. At the moment, I
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: have roughly about $ 7, 000 worth of Orders to go to
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: the United States that if the tariff stays where it is,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I will lose out on that money. In fact, I
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: even got an order yesterday off my website from someone
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: in Louisiana. So for the moment, we'll hold off. If
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: something develops where the tariffs are dropped, then those orders,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: I can try and make those depending on the time frame.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: But we will wait and see.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: We're looking at your sculptures. Can you talk to me
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  Speaker 1: about what goes into these sculptures, what they're made of?
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  Speaker 1: Because that's, of course, why you're you're lumped in now
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  Speaker 1: with the 50 percent tariffs.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So the the pieces that I carve are exclusively
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: out of basswood. The wood that I get, I buy
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: in Canada from a dealership, but the wood is shipped
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: from the United States. So with the Canadian tariffs, that
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  Speaker 2: might hurt my ability to buy wood in Canada also.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: But that we will wait and see. I'm not sure
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: what's going on there. But right now, as far as
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  Speaker 2: shipping to the United States, that, I mean, I could
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  Speaker 2: do it, but it will add 50% on to the
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: price of the wood. And I certainly do not expect
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: collectors to pay that. If they want to, that's certainly
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: up to them, but I don't expect that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, can you tell us, I mean, these are some
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  Speaker 1: beautiful sculptures that you're making here. Thank you. How much
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  Speaker 1: do they cost.
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  Speaker 2: Without the tariffs? The pieces, I'm not sure which ones
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  Speaker 2: you're looking at right now. The pieces that you can
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  Speaker 2: find on my website range from about $ 90 up to $ 2, 000.
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  Speaker 2: The I'll say the bulk of the pieces probably range
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: from that ninety dollars up to around five hundred. So
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  Speaker 2: there is a really good range. The pieces, as you
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  Speaker 2: said earlier, I've been carving for thirty four years now.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: I've done by the end of this year, I'll have
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  Speaker 2: carved close to eleven thousand numbered pieces. They're in collections
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: all around the world. It's a great way. to make
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  Speaker 2: a living. I sit and make Santas all day long, uh,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: you know, every day of the year. It, as I say,
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  Speaker 2: it beats working for a living.
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  Speaker 1: Dave, Christmas is coming. I mean, hopefully this is going
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  Speaker 1: to resolve itself in time. Uh, $ 4, 000 would be a
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: lot to spend on a Christmas decoration. What's your plan here?
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  Speaker 2: Uh, my plan honestly is just to keep doing what
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing. Uh, As I had mentioned to you on
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  Speaker 2: the phone before, there's really nothing I can do about
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the tariffs. They are what they are. I will keep working.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: I work with a Christmas store in Banff, which for
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: 20 years now has actually had a hard time keeping
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: my stock or keeping my Santas in stock. So they
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: will get more. I'm hoping that my Canadian collectors will
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: be buying this year. And this interview here helps to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: get my name out a bit more also. I just
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: have to wait and see. I'm going to continue carving.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I carve every day of the year when I've been
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: carving all day today. And when we get off the phone,
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  Speaker 2: I'll eat dinner and then I'll probably be carving till
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  Speaker 2: bedtime tonight. For me, it's just it's what I love
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  Speaker 2: to do. I tell people if I never sold another Santa,
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  Speaker 2: I would just keep carving them because it's what I
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  Speaker 2: love to do. It's not just carving. It's carving Santas.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what I've done for 34 years now.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Dave, I think everyone's sorry to see Santa get caught
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  Speaker 1: up in all of this, but I do really appreciate
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  Speaker 1: you sharing your story with us so that people can
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: understand those entrepreneurs who are roped into it all. David
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Francis is the owner of the wood carving business Snow
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  Speaker 1: Cottage Carvings in Castlegar, B.C. Thanks for your time.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Sarah. Take care.