As questions remain on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will impose tariffs on Canada, some consumers may wonder if now is the time to buy a new appliance before the cost goes up.
Economists say you can probably wait.
“I think for households, the question is do they have an appliance at home that is on their way out? If so, it might make sense to go out and get a replacement anyway,” said Tu Nguyen, economist at RSM Canada. “If they have one that is still running and working well, it might not be necessary because a tariff may not come to place at all on Feb. 1.”
Trump has said he plans to impose sweeping tariffs of 25 per cent on all goods entering the country from Canada and Mexico, with Feb. 1 set as his new planned date after he did not sign an executive order on inauguration day as he had originally said he would do.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he supports dollar-for-dollar matching counter-tariffs.
But there has yet to be confirmation if Trump will indeed put those tariffs in place, and Erik Johnson, senior economist and vice-president at BMO Capital Markets, told Global News that lack of clarity creates challenges — but the best thing to do now is “don’t panic.”
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Johnson said if a “worst-case scenario” occurs in which the U.S. imposes tariffs and Canada retaliates, it would impact prices for everyone.
“That would meaningfully increase the cost of those things, certainly to one degree by some amount of that tariff,” he said.
“And then you have to factor in, probably, you’ll see the Canadian dollar weaken. So really, it’s going to amplify any of those differences.”
Johnson said there may also be another reason to wait on big-ticket buys if you can.
The impact tariffs could have on the country’s labour market, in terms of potential job losses for Canadians, remains unclear.
Even with this uncertainty, Johnson said it could lead to Canadians making a different choice by delaying what they’re buying or buying it sooner.
Saibal Ray, who holds the James McGill chair in supply chain management at McGill University, said the way the risk of tariffs is perceived could have a “bigger role” than the tariffs themselves.
“People might, rather than buying a microwave today, it might push it a bit more out or bring it forward, depending on the context,” he said.
He added, while it’s yet to be seen how appliances themselves could be impacted, an increase in price could come from how interconnected Canada and U.S. markets are.
“Just the finished goods might be produced in the U.S., but a lot of the components and the materials are going from Canada,” Ray said.
“It will be impacted both for Canadian consumers but also for U.S. consumers because those prices, component prices, will increase when the U.S. manufacturers have to import those.”
If you do decide to purchase sooner than later, Nguyen said many appliances likely won’t see their costs go up just yet.
“It’s likely a percentage of them have already manufactured, have already been shipped to Canada and might be staying at warehouses across Canada right now, so a tariff would not affect prices of those items,” she said.
“It’s most likely there will be a leeway of a few weeks before consumers see prices, a change in price, changes in appliances.”