Overview
- Roustan Hockey in Brantford, Ontario operates with about 15 workers and produces roughly 400,000 wooden sticks a year under the Christian, Northland and Sherwood brands, with about 100,000 shipped to the United States.
- Company managers report U.S.-bound orders are being held for manual inspections and hit with surprise tariffs that their customs broker has in some cases secured waivers for.
- A recent shipment of goalie pads made at a separate Toronto facility was flagged for a 200% tariff, which managers say they are trying to resolve through updated shipping documentation.
- Wood now accounts for about one tenth of global hockey-stick output of around 5 million a year, and Roustan estimates a 5% to 10% share of the wooden-stick market that it acknowledges is shrinking as composites dominate.
- The disruption comes as Canada’s economy contracts, with second-quarter GDP down 1.6%, exports off 7.5%, 37,800 manufacturing jobs lost over the past year and business investment in equipment at a record low since 1981.