Contractors, home builders and suppliers say a spike in drywall prices across the prairies will mean a hike in construction costs.
The federal government imposed an anti-dumping tariff of up to 276 per cent on gypsum board products being imported from the United States.
Canada Border Services said the fees were imposed to offset dumping after a complaint was filed in April.
The first to feel the hit are people like Harry Loewen, owner of one of the city's largest drywall contractors.
He said businesses that operate under fixed-priced contracts will feel the impact immediately.
“Just in the city of Winnipeg, it’s millions of dollars being paid by the dry wall contractors and after that it’s building owners, it’s governments building schools and hospitals, it’s homebuyers, it’s everybody that’s a consumer in western Canada will ultimately end up paying for this,” Loewen said.
“Companies will go broke and people will lose their jobs."
The Canada Border Services Agency's decision is under review for the next three months. The import duty will remain in place until a final decision is made.
