Tariffs sink Canadian couples’ long-running e-commerce operation

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

Lana Bain and her husband had been selling antiques online for nearly 30 years when the U.S. tariffs hit.

At first it was higher prices and confusion. And then, in August 2025, it was the end of the de minimis loophole, which had previously allowed goods valued at less than $800 to cross the border without import duties.

For Bain, who lives just across the U.S. border in Canada with her husband, Brad, her livelihood was on the line. They live in the Okanagan region near Penticton in British Columbia.

The couple operates two standalone websites, three shops on Ruby Lane, a Shopify shop, multiple shops on Etsy and one on eBay.

The Bains started on AuctionWeb, which eventually became eBay. At the time, in 1995, there were no photos on the website.

That last week in August 2025, everything changed, Lana Bain said.

“There was no method of us to go and ship our orders. It was horrific because we had outstanding orders,” she told The Center Square. “But our Canada Post suspended all shipping to the U.S., as did around the world, and so we were just scrambling. It was a nightmare, and we ended up having to go and refund all those customers.”

Bain said she didn’t sleep for a month.

“It was like, what is happening here, 29 years on the internet, and look what’s happening to us? It was frightening,” she said. “It was horrible. I mean, you still have bills, you still have to buy groceries, and what do you do?”

In addition to bills, the couple had two warehouses full of antiques. Brad Bain said most of the stuff was bought with American customers in mind.

As soon as the Canada Post allowed pre-payment of the tariffs, the Bains started doing that so their customers wouldn’t face even higher taxes on the other end.

Taxes and fees now take up a larger share of the Bain’s operation. She pointed to a $35 vintage handkerchief. The taxes and fees for each one add up to about $17 or roughly half the cost of the item.

“We’re pre-paying every tariff, we’re prepaying everything so we may make anywhere from possibly 40% to maybe 10% of a profit, if we’re lucky, and we are actually,” she told The Center Square.

The couple will shift tactics in the coming year with plans to open a 1,200-square-foot store on their property.

“We’re going to open our brick-and-mortar shop in the spring, because we can’t exist this way,” Lana Bain said.

We Pay the Tariffs, a grassroots group opposed to tariffs, said that American businesses and consumers paid $175 billion in tariffs on U.S. imports from March to October 2025.

“The October tariff data shows unprecedented costs for American businesses and consumers, and the full scope of impacts becomes clearer with each month’s data release,” said Dan Anthony, executive director of We Pay the Tariffs. “The administration clearly understands tariffs are hurting affordability.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s tariffs as soon as Friday after agreeing to take up the case on a expedited basis.