By Sumayya
“The King once said that even if the smartest scientist with the most money made a magic material, it still would not be as good as natural wool for everything it gives us,” says Matthew Rowe.
Rowe is the leader of the Canadian Wool Council (CWC), a group that fights to help the country’s wool business grow from start to finish. Speaking to BNN Bloomberg on Thursday, he explained that Canada’s wool business is going through a massive change right now. This is because it is one of the many parts of the economy hurting from new trade taxes put in place by U.S. President Donald Trump’s government.
In August, the U.S. started charging a heavy 50 percent tax on raw, unwashed wool coming from Canada, as well as on some items made out of wool. This move completely blocked Canadian sellers from reaching American buyers, Rowe noted.
He explained that these new taxes target raw wool, which ruins Canada’s ability to process the material because certain steps in their business chain are now broken. For a long time, Canada depended on the United States to wash and clean the wool to turn it into expensive, high-quality products. Now, these taxes have taken that option away for many businesses.
For years, Canadian farmers had to send their wool across the border to massive U.S. cleaning factories because Canada does not own these types of buildings. Until Canada builds its own large factories, big wool sellers must send their materials to the U.K., the Czech Republic, or China to get them cleaned if they want to avoid paying the expensive U.S. taxes.
This sudden break in the Canada-U.S. trade relationship has left many Canadian wool producers angry at American businesses. They are highly unsure if things will ever go back to normal.
However, these trade fights have forced the local industry to focus heavily on finding new ways to grow inside Canada and in other countries. This comes at a perfect time since global wool prices are rising along with a high demand for eco-friendly materials.
Earlier this month, the Canadian federal government announced it is giving nearly $160,000 over the next two years to the CWC to help push Canadian wool into the global market.
Heath MacDonald, the Minister of Agriculture, stated on October 7 that Canada has excellent items like wool to offer the world, and they want to help get them into international markets. He added that by helping with global trade, this money will help local farmers grow their reach, beat market barriers, and find new business chances around the world.
Another big helper for Canada’s wool business is King Charles III, who has traveled the world fighting to protect traditional materials and handmade skills, Rowe explained.
He noted that His Majesty is the official royal supporter of the Campaign for Wool in Canada, which provides incredibly helpful publicity. Rowe shared that he is very grateful for the government’s financial help, noting that before the CWC started in 2018, the wool industry had not received any funding for many generations.
He now wants to see this energy turned into serious investments to build Canada’s own wool-washing factories, a process known as scouring.
Rowe explained that the very first thing you must do after cutting wool off a sheep is wash it. After it is clean, you can brush it, line it up to turn it into yarn or felt, and finally weave that yarn into cloth.
However, everything relies on that first large-scale washing step, which is exactly what Canada is missing right now.
