It was smiles all around in September, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Winnipeg's Canada Goose plant as the company announced a major expansion.
Now an international dispute involving Canada is hurting the international jacket maker's bottom line.
A movement in China is urging people to boycott Canadian brands like Canada Goose. It's in response to the Vancouver arrest of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the U.S. for alleged sanctions violations involving Iran.
"It's serious, we can’t not take this seriously, the fact that it's a huge market, it's one we've been looking at the last five to ten years," said Mariette Mulaire from Winnipeg’s World Trade Centre.
The result of the boycott – Canada Goose's stock fell over the last week by about 20 per cent. It did rebound somewhat by the end of Wednesday.
“It's got a bullseye on it if you will," said Ron Koslowsky, VP MB Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.
The CME says it’s unlikely the anti-Canada brand campaign in China will impact others who do business there as they're not as recognizable as Canada Goose.
“I don't think you’re going to see those things affected, and quite frankly I think even with Canada Goose this will get resolved and I think the hype right now will tend to dissipate," said Koslowsky.
Winnipeg's World Trade Centre organization says the boycott and stock drop is a concern. But President and CEO Mariette Mulaire says it's best for Canada Goose and others not to hit the panic button. That’s because she says this could be a short term dip, and most of our trade still goes south, not overseas.
"Stay the course, because there's so many unknowns right now," said Mulaire.
CTV News reached out to Canada Goose for comment and did not hear back.
