By Pepper Parr
April 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Ron Foxcroft will tell you every chance he gets that he sells his Canadian-made whistles to customers in 120 countries.
Ron Foxcroft – sells his whistle in more than 120 countries.
He will also tell you that on Day 1 of the Trump tariffs a U.S. customer had cancelled an $18,000 order of whistles and marine gear just after 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Foxcroft, who is pretty handy with words now calls the President of the United States “President Chump.”
Speaking to Hamilton Spectator reporter Matthew Van Dongen, Foxcroft said “another would-be customer kiboshed a warehouse storage and transportation contract with Fluke Transportation, also owned by Foxcroft, that would have been worth $46,000 a month.
Foxcroft: “There will be some lumps, but no knockout punches from the trade war.”
“In both cases, customers apologetically said they simply “can’t withstand” what amounts to a 25 per cent price hike prompted by the new tariffs on virtually all Canadian imports to the U.S. — and which have spurred strategic counter-tariffs in turn on targeted U.S. goods.
“There’s going to be pain. We’re planning for about 12 months of uncertainty and economic chaos,” said Foxcroft in an interview on Day 1 of the tariff war.
“But we have been braced for this since January … And really, this is an opportunity to look beyond the U.S. for new partners and relationships.
“We respect our American partners. But we don’t respect the Chump administration.”
Foxcroft said his businesses will take some lumps, but no knockout punches from the trade war.
Fox 40 stocked up on a particular type of imported resin — a critical ingredient to make whistles — ahead of the tit-for-tat war of retaliatory tariffs.
There is a Foxcroft whistle in his pocket wherever he goes. He handed out a whistle to the late Queen Elizabeth II when he was presented to her at Buckingham Palace.
Asked how his products will be impacted Foxcroft said: “If they interpret the ring on the whistle, and the clip on the Lanyard, we are subject to the Steel and Aluminum Tariff. I explained that in detail last night on CHCH.”
There will be stories like this throughout Canada.
Everyone will be watching closely how the federal government reacts to the Trump announcements. While the initial reaction to the tariff announcements seemed to be that “it could have been worse,” everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop.
