Really wish it hadn’t come to this, but here we are. While the developments around US tariffs unfold, their impending impact has been a real concern for Canadian businesses.
Kobo was founded in Canada, is headquartered in Canada with our eReaders designed in Toronto and has the majority of our employees here. So, what does all of this mean for us? Like many executives and leaders across the country, we at Kobo have been spending a lot of time with our supply chain team and tax experts, working in a newly uncertain trade environment that has been shifting almost every day.
One learning is clear: Like they say about planting trees, the best time for a Canadian company to diversify its markets was ten years ago. The next best time is now. While we go through this shift, many Canadian companies are going to get hit hard by these tariffs and we need to stick together and do everything we can to support them. People are going to need help, and we will all need to step up. So, for Canadian business, it’s time for new rules: we assume uncertainty, and make resilience and multilateral trade a priority. We do everything we can to keep domestic businesses healthy and build new domestic capacity. The good news is, Canada can do this. We know how to knuckle down and get things done. We know how to make friends and keep them. And we know how to stick together.
And for Kobo? We made that shift ten years ago, with strong relationships in Asia and Europe to diversify our Canadian business. There isn't anything special about us. If we can do it, others can too. So we get to keep doing what we do best: putting great books into the hands of readers all over the world and building amazing eReaders that make reading a joy. And like we always do, we will promote and support Canadian authors and publishers to Canadian readers to make up for sales that they may lose on the other side of the border, because more Canada is always a good thing.
#GoKobo #GoCanada 🇨🇦
