What it means to be a Canadian brand during a trade war

First it was wine. Then it was makeup. The US-waged trade war has been an endless (and needless?) battle of bravado, leaving small businesses and consumers in the crosshairs.

In the most recent set of US tariffs on Canadian goods, and Canadian counter-tariff retaliation, a long laundry list of items were added to the list. Many raw materials (including our beloved seaweed), and another item that directly impacts our business: cosmetics.

This puts many Canadian beauty products onto a list that will be hit with 50% tariffs upon entry into US, and vice versa. For context, what that means is if you typically pay $60 for your favourite makeup product, it’s about to go up to $90 in your local currency.

The nuances and complexities of these tariffs have left many small business owners scratching our heads and scrambling to respond in the best way that we can for our customers and our business. The reality is, it’s a moving target that keeps changing.

And with every announcement, we have to put aside the important new product innovation, and the exciting community activation or project that we’ve been working on, to refocus energy on our supply chain and selling strategy by country.

It’s confusing, it’s a distraction, and ultimately, it’s pulling us away from our goal of making bodies healthier with the power of our BC seaweed.

Honestly, we’re fed up, and we think a lot of consumers are too. Here’s what we’re doing about it.

What happened

On August 22, 2026, the United States imposed a 50% tariff on $27.6 billion worth of Canadian goods. There's a long laundry list of Canadian goods subject to tariffs, and Canada has retaliated with a nearly identical list of goods. When it comes to our category (Harmonized Code 3304 for any of you who really want to geek out), makeup is getting hit along with haircare, sunscreens, lip products, eye products, and manicure and pedicure preparations. Luckily, our specific category, general skincare, creams, lotions and serums, aren't named on the list right now. Neither is soap (for now).

The Government of Canada is matching the US tariffs, dollar for dollar. Those countermeasures take effect September 8, and they're concentrated on the same class of cosmetic products.

As we’ve been researching this situation and learning more about how it might impact our industry, we were surprised to learn that Canada is the second largest supplier of beauty and skincare products to the US, right behind South Korea. This is a complex and intertwined trade relationship that has many Canadian brands relying significantly on their US business, and many Canadian customers relying on access to their favourite US beauty brands.

What it actually means

Goods coming into Canada from the US are about to get more expensive, or some will simply stop coming. Goods going into the US from Canada now carry a real price and profitability disadvantage at the border. With the focus on buying local, Canadian brands are losing some of the free trade advantages that they’ve had for years with a market of consumers that is 10x larger, and much more concentrated than we have in Canada.

For our community, it’s going to hit us in the wallet, and likely our selection of goods will be more refined. Our lives are becoming a little more expensive and complex, and it will push us all to a more localized, protectionism and nationalistic approach ie. in Canada, we should focus on Buy Canada. Americans will focus on Buy American.

Why we're doubling down on Canada

We are extremely proud of our Canadian roots. It’s our upbringing outside in the wild forests and crisp oceans of British Columbia that inspired us to reach for healthier, more sustainably conscious products. It was our quest to find an ingredient that was naturally derived and scientifically backed to improve our health and wellness that led us to the seaweed that was growing all around us in our own backyard (aka the pacific ocean).

When we learned more about seaweed, we also discovered the unique properties of our BC seaweed. We have species of seaweed that only grow in the cold, deep waters of the PNW, and because of our clean, mineral-rich waters, these seaweeds are full of complex polysaccharides that can truly improve our skin and gut. In short, we have really really good seaweed.

Our oceans economy is such a strategic advantage that the government of Canada is currently working on a full Blue Economy strategy (focusing on highlighting and supporting industries that leverage our oceans and keeping our ocean clean).

Our seaweed comes from Canada, our products are small crafted and batched with our chemists in a lab in Vancouver. Our entire team is women who have built our lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Needless to say, we feel we have all of the ingredients of an extremely relevant and powerful Canadian business. And since we're just getting started, success for us at this point means smaller tangible actions that we feel we can achieve right here in Canada. 1000 new customers, 50 great reviews, 100 shares on our Instagram channel. Meeting other Canadians who have shops that might retail our brand, or founders who are growing an adjacent brand in Canada.

But I won't pretend this isn't scary. For a small, founder-led brand like ours, this is a matter of survival during a genuinely tumultuous time. We don't have the scale to absorb a hit like this and adjust quietly. We have to be deliberate about where we spend our energy, and right now, that's right here at home.

What needs to happen

We're doubling down on Canada. That means finding every single person in this country who wants strong, resilient, glowing skin, and introducing them to what we've built.

And the truth is: we could really use your help! Some ways to support Maris Dae's growth and future:

Share this post with someone who might be interested in our seaweed skincare
Leave a review. If you’ve tried our products and they delivered, we’d love to hear how they worked for you and it will support others in their decision to try Maris Dae
Engage with us: share one of our instagram posts, slide into our DMs, send us an email about what we can do to create an outstanding experience for you
Send us to your favourite retail stores so we can get wholesale listings across Canada

We feel lucky to have access to some of the cleanest water in the world, some of the best seaweed, and we are a team of health-conscious go-getters who want to share this story with the world.

If you want to be part of it, we would love you to share our story + join us in building Maris Dae.

Humbly, your made-in-Vancouver founder,

Sam