An Important Update on Tariffs & Our Business
March 4, 2025
Tariff Update
As of March 4, 2025, new U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports have officially taken effect.
For now, orders under $800 USD remain unaffected, thanks to the de minimis exception. This means that U.S. customers can still shop with us without paying additional tariffs, but this could change in the future.
If you’ve been thinking about placing an order, now is the time! We encourage our U.S. customers to shop while tariffs do not apply to smaller orders.
Most importantly, I want to say thank you. The outpouring of support from our community has been incredible. Your words of encouragement and the wave of orders have kept us busy, helped us prepare financially for what’s ahead, and most of all, made us feel hopeful about the future.
We’re keeping a close eye on any potential changes and will share updates as soon as we have them. Thank you for your continued support!
Warmly,
Caroline
Founder, Blackbird Fabrics
February 15, 2025
As a small business, we want to be transparent about some potential changes that could have a big impact on how you shop with us. Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty around trade policies between Canada and the U.S., and we are preparing for what could be major challenges ahead.
What’s Happening?
Currently, the de minimis exception allows U.S. customers to receive international orders under $800 without paying import duties. However, there’s growing discussion about removing or modifying this rule. If this happens, it means that all shipments from Canada to the U.S. could be subject to customs fees and tariffs, significantly increasing costs for our U.S. customers.
Additionally, the U.S. government has increased tariffs on Chinese-origin goods, which could make many of our fabrics more expensive. If the de minimis exception is eliminated, these tariffs will apply to many fabrics in our collection, even though we ship from Canada. At the same time, the U.S. is considering new tariffs on Canadian imports, which could further increase the cost of shopping with us.
Since a large portion of our business comes from the U.S., these policy changes could have a big impact on our ability to continue offering the fabrics you love. While this uncertainty hangs above us, we are doing everything we can behind the scenes to prepare and adapt.
How This Affects You
For Our U.S. Customers
If these changes go into effect, you could face additional costs, including tariffs and customs fees, on all orders shipped from Canada. This would make it significantly more expensive to shop with us, and we fear that it could lead to a major reduction in our U.S. customer base.
💛 How You Can Help: Supporting small businesses, staying engaged, and spreading the word makes a huge difference. You can also contact your representatives and ask them to protect the de minimis rule and fair trade with Canada. If you’ve been thinking of placing an order and want to get ahead of any potential tariffs, now is the time. Your continued support helps us weather these uncertainties and continue bringing you the fabrics you love.
For Our Canadian Customers
While your shopping experience and prices will be minimally affected, these changes could force us to shrink our product selection as we adapt to a smaller business model. We remain committed to serving our Canadian community, and we need your support now more than ever.
💛 How You Can Help: Shopping small and supporting Canadian businesses helps keep companies like ours strong. You can also contact your local MP and MLA to let them know how important it is to protect Canadian small businesses that rely on U.S. customers. Let them know that changes to de minimis could put Canadian jobs at risk and ask them to advocate for fair trade policies.
We know there’s so much happening in the world right now, and you may have your own challenges to navigate. If supporting our small business isn’t something you’re in a position to do, we completely understand. Just having you here as part of our community means so much to us.
We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more, and we deeply appreciate your support, no matter what happens.
With gratitude,
Caroline
Founder, Blackbird Fabrics