President Donald Trump’s latest trade move targeting Canada may have missed its mark, as a newly announced 50% tariff on Canadian ice hockey sticks is expected to make little meaningful difference to the hockey-loving nation.
Trump revealed the sweeping 50% tariffs on a broad range of Canadian imports on Monday, including ice hockey equipment, with the measures set to kick in within 30 days.
However, the impact looks limited — Canada now has just one major ice hockey stick manufacturing facility remaining, and the wooden sticks it produces are already falling out of favor with today’s players.
The factory in question, operated by Roustan Hockey in Ontario, turns out roughly 400,000 wooden hockey sticks annually, with around 100,000 of those shipped to the United States. The company had not responded to a request for comment at the time of this report.
The reason the tariff carries little punch: most professional players and even many children have moved away from traditional wooden sticks, preferring ultra-lightweight composite sticks manufactured overseas. Those modern sticks offer more powerful shots and superior puck control.
Fiorenzo Arcadi of Toronto Hockey Repair, a business that sells, repairs, and custom-manufactures ice hockey equipment, confirmed the shift away from wood. “There is a decline in wooden hockey sticks,” he said. “We do sell a fair amount, but mostly to beer league goalies.”
The tariff is being viewed largely as a symbolic jab at Canada’s unofficial national pastime rather than a move with significant economic teeth.
