Quebec-based South Shore Furniture has seen its sales drop 77 per cent after U.S. President Donald Trump enacted his illegal tariffs earlier this year.
More than 126 workers at the 86-year-old company will be out of work as a result of the closure.
In a statement, company owners say this was most difficult decision in the family's history, “and was the result of an unprecedented crisis in the Canadian furniture industry.”
The family-owned company says its facilities in Sainte-Croix and Coaticook will gradually cease operations in the coming weeks. Its 126 employees were informed of the decision Monday and will remain on the payroll for several weeks.
The company has also said heavy dumping of cheap furniture from China and Vietnam into North American markets has driven down prices.
Jean Laflamme, chairman of the board of South Shore Furniture, told Le Peuple de Lotbinière that the current situation could hurt the entire Canadian supply chain.
“If furniture sells for less than our raw material costs, very few Canadian companies can survive. The majority of South Shore Furniture’s raw materials come from the Quebec wood industry. If we don’t protect this value chain, from the forest to the finished product, we will lose it for good. I urge decision-makers to seriously consider this reality, which risks causing further closures, and to act quickly using the legal tools at their disposal to help an entire ecosystem that supports tens of thousands of jobs.”
