Canadian small businesses are grappling with rising uncertainty due to proposed tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and its constantly shifting trade policies, according to the head of a local business advocacy group. Trump on July 10 announced a 35-percent tariff rate for imports from Canada starting August 1. Dan Kelly, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, underscored that small businesses undertake a large portion of trade activity with the U.S, and will likely suffer from the American-imposed levies as well as Canada's reciprocal tariffs as a result. "For small businesses, my members in Canada, they are very trade exposed. And of course we have tariffs in both directions, and that is biting pretty hard," he said. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly threatened, imposed, paused, and reinstated tariffs on Canadian goods, including levies that specifically target the countries steel, aluminum, and auto sectors. The constant policy fluctuation has left businesses in Canada struggling to prepare for what lies ahead. "Uncertainty is the enemy of business growth. If you don't know whether you're going to have access to the market for terribly long, it is very hard for you to plan, to hire, to expand, or to know what your next step should be. And that's been really the biggest impact that we've seen so far," Kelly said. According to the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - those with fewer than 500 employees - account for 99.8 percent of all businesses in the country and form the backbone of the Canadian economy. The CFIB, which represents around 100,000 SMEs, reported in an April survey that many of its members are scaling back investment in the U.S. and shifting to local suppliers and markets to minimize risk. SHOTLIST: Toronto, Canada - July 23, 2025 1. Traffic; 2. Various of fruit stand, price tags; 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Kelly, President, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) (partially overlaid with shot 4): "For small businesses, my members in Canada, they are very trade exposed. And of course we have tariffs in both directions, and that is biting pretty hard."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 4. Locals sitting around; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 5. Various of locals sitting around, chatting; 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Kelly, President, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB): "Uncertainty is the enemy of business growth. If you don't know whether you're going to have access to the market for terribly long, it is very hard for you to plan, to hire, to expand, or to know what your next step should be. And that's been really the biggest impact that we've seen so far."; FILE: Windsor, Ontario, Canada - 2025 7. Bridge at Canada-U.S. border; Canadian, U.S. national flags; FILE: Vancouver, Canada - 2025 8. Aerial shots of port scene, containers, buildings. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]