U.S. businesses kick off football-themed billboard campaign against Trump’s tariffs on Canada - Toronto Star

The campaign answers questions like 'What's worse than Green Bay?' or 'What's worse than losing Sunday?' with one word. 

A mockup of the football-themed billboards targeting Donald Trump’s tariffs being rolled out across seven U.S. states by a group called Small Businesses Against Tariffs.

For fans of the NFL’s Chicago Bears, there aren’t many more terrible things to imagine than a crowd of happy Green Bay Packers fans.

But thanks to Donald Trump’s trade war against Canada, some U.S. small businesses have decided that there’s at least one thing that’s even worse: tariffs.

A group advocating for small businesses in the U.S. is putting up football-themed anti-tariff billboards starting Wednesday in seven states that have significant imports from Canada, and are key battlegrounds in this November’s midterm congressional elections.

“Our team came up with this idea in light of the escalating U.S.-Canada trade war, and the devastating impact it is having on American small businesses and consumers,” said a campaign spokesperson. “We tied it to the start of football season for maximum impact, as millions of Americans across these targeted regions are tuning in for the season.”

The campaign starts a day after the latest round of 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods went into effect, including on outboard motors, steel and paper products. On Sept. 29, a U.S. import ban on almost all Canadian alcohol and dairy products goes into effect. The U.S. moves came after Canada levied counter-tariffs on $28 billion of American imports.

The billboard campaign answers questions like “What’s worse than Green Bay?” or “What’s worse than losing Sunday?” with one simple word: Tariffs. 

A composite image showing two billboard renderings targeting the Trump tariffs that small U.S. businesses say are negatively impacting them.

They’ve also produced a 30-second spoof ad called “Tariff Plus: The subscription you didn’t sign up for and can’t cancel.”

The point, said campaign supporter Kimberly Daniels, is to remind people that it’s American businesses and consumers who end up paying for import tariffs.

“It’s the importer that pays these,” said Daniels, who owns a customs and logistics company with offices in D.C. and Nevada.

Daniels says many of her clients have been struggling to put food on the table since the launch of Trump’s trade war.

“They’re just trying to keep their heads above water,” said Daniels, noting that the rapid swings in trade policy make it hard for businesses to do any kind of planning.

“It’s terrible. They’re trying to make decisions that affect the next several years,” said Daniels.

The group, calling itself Small Businesses Against Tariffs, includes a collection of small business owners from across the U.S. It’s a project of the Defending Democracy Together Institute, a charity and educational group founded by anti-Trump American conservatives. The DDTI is paying for the billboards with donations from across the U.S.

But, says Daniels, business owners supporting the campaign have a mix of political viewpoints.

“Partisanship doesn’t matter when you’re trying to put food on the table,” said Daniels.

The trade war has been devastating for Princess Awesome, a D.C.-based children’s fashion brand, said company CEO Rebecca Melsky, another backer of the billboard campaign.

“We’ve paid a lot more money in tariffs than we were expecting to. We don’t have huge margins, and it’s taken a huge toll,” said Melsky, who added that the problem is far bigger than just the amount small businesses are paying in tariffs. 

“We’re placing orders six to eight months in advance,” said Melsky. “The chaos and confusion, policy making on a whim? That makes it really hard to plan.”

Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @starbeer.