TOLEDO, Ohio — President-elect Donald Trump says once in office, he wants to place a 25% tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico in an effort to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.
Kip Nickerson, the co-owner of Titgemeier's, a south Toledo store that sells feed, garden and brewing supplies, said the tax would cause an increase in many of the business' wine products.
"Pretty much all the stuff that we have for winemaking, almost all of it's imported from Canada. All the wine kits are made in Canada, a lot of the yeast is produced in Canada," Nickerson said. "There's a lot of wine kits that we have that are in the $90-100 range and I would expect those to be at least $150."
Nickerson said although a 25% increase is what distributors may be paying for imports, that percentage will only increase down the line.
"By the time it gets to someone like me, the prices are gonna be up probably 50% on what it was before so I expect prices to jump very high," he said.
Along with the wine kits, he said tools, bird feeders, and several other items at the store will become more expensive.
The proposed tariff could also affect prices at gas pumps, according to Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis.
"In the Great Lakes, the predominant feed that refineries use that is the primary oil that's refined is directly from Canada, including several refineries in the Toledo vicinity," DeHaan said.
He said the tariffs will boost the cost of Canadian crude oil significantly, directly affecting gas prices.
"It could cause gas prices to go up by at least 35 cents a gallon, so we'll be watching the potential for tariffs very carefully," DeHaan said. "But this could really impact gas prices in the Great Lakes in the Midwest and in the Rockies because all of the refineries in these regions generally use Canadian crude oil to refine."