Flooring industry fears losing thousands of jobs

Jean-François Dufresne is worried about the future of his industry. The president and CEO of Preverco, a major Canadian hardwood flooring producer, says new U.S. tariffs announced Friday by the Trump administration threaten to devastate the sector, putting thousands of jobs at risk. “Overnight, we’re losing 25 per cent of our business,” Dufresne said. “There is no way that we can pass those tariffs, and there is no way we can absorb them. So essentially, that business is gone overnight.” On Friday, the Trump administration announced a major shift in the tariffs the United States applies on Canadian goods, removing…