This business owner says she's being 'penalized' for bringing manufacturing to Canada from China

Submitted by admin on Tue, 03/19/2024 - 00:33

A Canadian company that manufactures children's toy couches finds itself facing a stiff bill for import tariffs after bringing production home to this country.

While Barumba Play is no longer importing a majority of its product, a single component of the couches has been reclassified by the Canada Border Services Agency and is no longer tariff-free.

The company's flagship product is a couch for children made of pieces that can be easily taken apart and reassembled for play. Sara Feldstein founded the company in Markham, Ont., in 2021 and initially produced the couches entirely in China.

As the couches were classified as a children's toy, Feldstein told CBC News they were not subject to tariffs and were brought into Canada without import fees. Tariffs can be used by the Canadian government as a form of taxation on imports to protect Canadian economic development.

Trouble started for her in 2023, when Feldstein opted to move production of the couches to Canada from China...

This was excerpted from the 18 March 2024 edition of CBC News.