TFI International Inc., says the trade war between Canada and the US is forced the company to abandon an acquisition deal and is further exacerbating the freight industry’s economic struggles.
As reported by the Financial Post: “Our industrial end market is exposed to tariff-related uncertainty,” said chief executive Alain Bedard in a conference call with analysts. “Our industrial-based customers are just waiting … Our customers are manufacturing tractors, they’re manufacturing agricultural equipment, et cetera, and those guys don’t sell a lot because their customers, the farmers, are insecure right now.”
On transborder transport, Bedard explained that while truckload volumes heading to the United States haven’t changed significantly, “there’s nothing coming back to Canada right now, so it’s an issue. The backhaul is killing us right now.”U.S. imports of Canadian steel are down due to the 25 per cent duties imposed in March, but aluminum imports remain high, according to Bedard.TFI grew primarily by acquisition over the past decade, buying firms in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But the trade war is now halting larger deals. “We have one transaction that we really liked, but because of all this uncertainty on tariffs, we had to walk away from that deal,” Bedard said.Full story here.