Since the Donald Trump administration announced a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the US, Canadian media, law firms, consulting companies and business associations have published story after story that centre how our overall economy will feel the effects. Fair enough.
But what about women?
No one, as of this date, has published, hosted a talk or analyzed the impact of tariffs via an intersectional feminist lens; The impact on diverse women including Black, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, migrant workers, and in particular the over two million women are self-employed or operating small businesses, has not been examined.
Until recently.
On February 13, a powerhouse, passionate panel, convened by the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce, took to the internet to broadcast a panel discussion on tariffs and women featuring Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Executive Director, Canadian Community Economic Development network, Judy Rebick, journalist, political activist, and feminist icon; Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh, Associate Professor, Law, Land and Local Economic, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law; and Jim Stanford, Economist and Director at Centre for Future Work.
You can watch the full panel discussion here.
Meanwhile, here are a few excerpt quotes to whet your whistle:
“Tariffs aren’t just about trade policy shifts, they’re an economic weapon and like most economic weapons, they don’t hit everybody equally. Without an intersectional feminist lens looking at them [tariffs], then this is not just going to be an economic attack, it is going to hit women’s financial independence in a more severe way that we’ve seen in a very long time.”—Celina Ceasar-Chevannes
“I just want to say that for racialized women, all over the world, this isn’t about competition. This isn’t about us. This isn’t about Trump. It’s about survival. These [trade] policies are designed to push them deeper into precarious work and economic insecurity and to exacerbate inequalities both within Canada and globally. We need to ask who really pays the price?”— Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh, Associate Professor, Law, Land and Local Economic, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
“I suspect that the biggest impact will be a chilling impact on the overall economy. Small businesses in general, including the micro enterprises that many women entrepreneurs run depend completely on the state of spending power in the domestic economy.” —Jim Stanford, Economist and Director at Centre for Future Work, columnist.
“Women entrepreneurs don’t have common interests with big business. About 80% of women entrepreneurs don’t even have a single employee. They’re not identified as waged workers—but they are also workers. Yet. Nobody talks about their needs given the tariff threats. Nobody thinks about them— simply because they’re women.” Judy Rebick, journalist, political activist, and feminist icon.
To learn more about the issues, proposed solutions and “what’s next” ideas proposed by each panelist, you will have to watch the video—right to the end.
For more information on women entrepreneurs, check out the Women’s Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (2024) report here.
*quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.
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