A coalition of U.S. small business owners has launched a football-themed billboard campaign opposing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, timed to coincide with the start of the NFL season and rolled out in seven states with significant Canadian imports.
The campaign, organized by a group calling itself Small Businesses Against Tariffs, began putting up billboards on Wednesday in states that are also considered key battlegrounds in November’s midterm congressional elections. The billboards use football rivalry humour, posing questions such as “What’s worse than Green Bay?” or “What’s worse than losing Sunday?” with the answer: tariffs.
A campaign spokesperson said the idea emerged in response to the escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada and its effects on American small businesses and consumers, and was tied to the football season for wider reach as millions of Americans in the targeted regions tune in.
The group also produced a 30-second spoof advertisement titled “Tariff Plus: The subscription you didn’t sign up for and can’t cancel.”
The billboard rollout began a day after a new round of 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods took effect, covering products including outboard motors, steel and paper. A further U.S. import ban on nearly all Canadian alcohol and dairy products is set to take effect on Sept. 29. These measures follow Canada’s earlier decision to impose counter-tariffs on $28 billion worth of American imports.
Importers Say They Bear the Cost
Kimberly Daniels, a campaign supporter who owns a customs and logistics company with offices in Washington, D.C., and Nevada, said the campaign is meant to highlight that it is American businesses and consumers, not foreign exporters, who pay the cost of import tariffs.
“It’s the importer that pays these,” Daniels said, adding that many of her clients have struggled to make ends meet since the trade war began. She said the unpredictable shifts in trade policy have made long-term business planning difficult for her clients.
Daniels said the campaign draws support from small business owners across the political spectrum. “Partisanship doesn’t matter when you’re trying to put food on the table,” she said.
Small Businesses Describe Financial Strain
Rebecca Melsky, CEO of Washington, D.C.-based children’s clothing brand Princess Awesome and another backer of the campaign, said the trade war has taken a significant financial toll on her company.
“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,” Melsky said. She added that the challenges extend beyond the direct cost of tariffs, since her company places orders six to eight months in advance, making sudden policy shifts especially disruptive.
“The chaos and confusion, policy making on a whim? That makes it really hard to plan,” Melsky said.
Small Businesses Against Tariffs is a project of the Defending Democracy Together Institute, a charity and educational organization founded by conservatives opposed to Trump. The billboard campaign is being funded through donations collected from across the United States.
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