Canadian Furniture Manufacturer Closes Shop and Heads to North Carolina

Sundance reporting for CTH 

The example of Canadian ready-to-assemble furniture supplier Prepac is a case study in what Robert Lighthizer was discussing with Tucker Carlson yesterday.

Prepac is a furniture company that creates the pre-fab (particle board) type furniture [company here].  The company was founded and established in Canada and previously opened a second facility for manufacturing and distribution in North Carolina.

The U.S. market is their primary sales market, and facing increased uncertainty about access, tariffs and operations their best play is to close shop in Canada and move all operations to the location of their primary customer base.  Prepac is leaving Canada for North Carolina.

DELTA, British Columbia — Canadian ready-to-assemble furniture supplier Prepac has reportedly shut down its manufacturing operations in Delta, British Columbia, shifting all production to its facility in North Carolina instead.

According to Unifor, the union that represents Prepac’s workers, tariffs are to blame. More than 170 workers will be laid off.

“Our union has been warning about lost investment and production since Trump began his economic war on Canada and Canadian workers,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “In this case, Prepac and its equity owners are using the tariffs as an excuse to redirect all their production to the U.S. It’s pure greed.”

[…] Prepac was founded in Canada 45 years ago and locally owned until it was acquired by Canadian private equity firm TorQuest in 2019. The company invested $27 million to build its 260,000-square-foot facility in Whitsett, N.C., in 2021, a move that added 200 jobs.

[…] Prepac is the second known furniture manufacturer to lay off workers in Canada since the onset of the trade war. South Shore announced early February that it would lay off 115 workers in Quebec, saying the threat of tariffs has hurt its business too much. (source)

Again, this is a sign of what is to come if Canada remains in opposition to balanced trade and subjects their economy to a significant disconnect from the U.S. market.  {Go Deep}