For Kelowna business owner Jenn Zelmer, the new U.S. tariffs are threatening the small business she has spent more than eight years building.

Zelmer is the owner of Birch Bar & Co., a laser-cutting and engraving business that creates personalized items for weddings, parties, events and holidays.

About 90 per cent of her customers are in the U.S., making the new 50 per cent tariffs especially difficult for her business.

“This weekend was pretty tough, because the 50 per cent tariffs hit all of my items, so there’s no way around it,” Zelmer said.

For a business selling relatively inexpensive personalized products, she said the additional cost can quickly erase any profit.

“If a cake topper is $20, the government wants $10, 50 per cent of the item,” she said. “At the end of the day, you’re making peanuts.”

Zelmer started Birch Bar more than eight years ago after struggling to find work in Kelowna. As a mother, she said running her own business gave her the flexibility to work around her family.

Now, she is questioning whether she can continue.

“How are you going to survive, or what are you going to do now that you’ve invested eight years of your time in this business that seems like just overnight just, like, went up in poof, flames?”

The U.S. has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian exports, while Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports Monday.

For Zelmer, the impact is immediate. She said shipping companies require the tariff to be paid before her packages leave Canada, meaning she has to absorb the cost to keep serving American customers.

“You’re honestly working for free if you want to be able to ship to the U.S. customers,” she said. “You can’t even run a sustainable business.”

Zelmer said the uncertainty is affecting more than just her own business.

“It’s not even just me as a small business. It’s like all of us small business are the ones suffering,” she said.

For Danielle Scheven, owner of Kelowna jewellery company Carolily, the tariffs are also highlighting the importance of building strong relationships with Canadian customers.

Scheven said Carolily is regularly welcoming new Canadian retail partners.

“These new tariffs serve as a reminder for us all to support local businesses and artisans as much as we can, and to double down on the clients in our own country where possible,” she said.

Ester Pike, interim CEO of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, says the collapse of tariff negotiations is especially concerning for small and medium-sized businesses.

“Kelowna is a primarily small and medium-sized enterprise economy, so any major economic fluctuations are first and foremost going to be felt by that size of business.”

She says B.C. industries that rely heavily on U.S. trade will also feel the impact.

“Lumber is still highly reliant on U.S. trade, so that is going to be an industry that’s going to feel it quite a bit.”

Pike says the Chamber supports the federal government’s response, including the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, or RTRI, which provides funding and loans to help businesses affected by trade disruptions.

“We do want to applaud the federal government for the speed with which they responded with the RTRI initiative.”

She says the funding can help businesses become less reliant on U.S. trade.

Pike says there are still opportunities for Canadian businesses to adapt.

“Although there are challenges coming down the line, it isn’t a hopeless situation by any means. If anything, through some work, some funding, and some resilience, there is the opportunity for us to really turn our local, provincial, and Canadian economy into a well-diversified and strong economy,” she added.