Flag flap Manitoba’s U.S. trade rep would love to run provincial, national pride up the flagpole but tariffs mean he can’t afford one By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:33 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

Missing from Manitoba’s U.S. trade office: flagpoles.

Two Manitoba flags and one bearing a Maple Leaf landed at the Washington, D.C. hub Monday — nearly a month after shipping from Winnipeg.

Flagpoles, however, were too expensive to send.

“The components of the flagpole could be from China, they could be from a different source,” said Richard Madan, Manitoba’s U.S. trade representative.

He learned last month that he’d need to find flagpoles elsewhere if he wants to properly display his new office decor.

Government staff researched how tariffs would affect flagpole exports. They opted against sending the items from Manitoba; the extra fees and duties would cost as much as the poles themselves, Madan said.

The United States placed 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last March. The fee doubled to 50 per cent in June.

Madan expects to source his flagpoles from the Canadian embassy.

“It’s kind of hilarious, but it’s also a perfect example of how complicated this tariff formula is,” he said.

Other provincial offices on Capitol Hill — Alberta’s, Ontario’s — have their respective flags displayed. The spaces were decorated before the start of Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president.

“It’s kind of hilarious, but it’s also a perfect example of how complicated this tariff formula is.”

For now, Madan’s only wall art is a map of the United States. He’s aiming to showcase designs from Manitoba artist Alex Plante, but that’s become complicated, too: it’s unclear whether tariffs or other duties will hit the prints as they cross the border.

“I was hoping… she’d be able to sign it,” Madan said. “My plan is to frame these prints.”

He and Plante have discussed printing the artwork in the United States, but it would not have the artist’s autograph. The goal is to print it in Manitoba, said Plante, who has otherwise stopped shipping to the United States.

She pulled back when the Trump administration removed the de minimis exemption, which previously shielded imports under US$800 from duties.

Some artists seem to get their work across the border without any problems. Others have encountered complications, Plante said.

“Even when you think (something is) fully compliant or not subject to tariffs, you all of a sudden find your product held up at the border,” said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

He said he’s heard of local protein bar exports being delayed at U.S. Customs. Madan received a parcel of used baby clothes from his mother; there was an $80 tariff fee accompanying it.

Tariff fees become more complex when materials and components are sent across the border several times to make a finished product, Remillard said.

“It makes it very difficult for businesses to plan and deliver… with any degree of confidence and certainty,” he said.

“It makes it very difficult for businesses to plan and deliver.”

Osborne Auto Centre is among the companies decreasing its U.S. imports.

“Special-order parts have went up. Dealer parts have went up,” Parysh Blakney, the shop’s manager, said of prices.

She lifted a hose for an old Suzuki. Getting a new hose made in the United States would have cost more than $300, Blakney said. Osborne Auto Centre turned to a North End business that produced one for $140.

Still, some items must come from the other side of the border, Blakney said. It’s why The Flag Shop keeps ordering certain flagpole brackets and poles from the U.S., despite tariffs.

“In the U.S., they might buy something from China, and that (fee) gets passed on to us,” said owner Guy Gauthier.

He disabled the option for American customers to buy Flag Shop items on the company’s website. It’s not clear how tariffs affect those clients’ purchases, Gauthier said.

U.S. customers must now contact The Flag Shop directly so staff can work out the applicable tariffs and fees on a per purchase basis, he said.

Both The Flag Shop and Osborne Auto Centre have swallowed tariff costs and passed on extra fees to customers.

“It’s a challenging time,” Gauthier said.

Most Canadian exports — roughly 85 per cent — are shielded by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, according to the prime minister’s office. The trade deal is set for a formal review in July.

Upholstered wooden products, kitchen cabinets, vanities, copper and heavy-duty trucks are in the basket of exports hit by U.S. tariffs.

“We need a resolution to these trade irritants if we’re going to move forward as a continental economy,” Remillard said.

Businesses spend an “exorbitant amount of time” researching how tariffs will affect operations, he added.

China placed tariffs on canola and pork last year, drastically impacting Manitoba’s agricultural sector.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com