NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — North Carolina seems to be playing a role in the looming trade war between the US and Canada.
British Columbia-based furniture maker Prepac is shifting operations and manufacturing to just outside Greensboro. Their employee union, Unifor, claimed it is because of new tariffs threatened by the Trump administration, while the company blamed different economic factors.
“We see companies like this, in our view, opportunistic companies simply using it as a cover to go to a lower price jurisdiction, and they’ll just keep following that and of course the added threats of cross border tariffs just make things more expensive,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Western Regional Director for Unifor.
McGarrigle told Queen City News that they expect 170 workers to lose their jobs, many of them having worked at the company for decades.
The White House has already framed the move as a win for the President and his tariff strategy, posting a story about the move on a White House-run X account. Prominent North Carolina Republicans reposted the link, including Senator Thom Tillis and former Congressman Dan Bishop.
But in a statement, Prepac’s CEO seemed to throw cold water on the developments. CEO Nick Bozikis said, “The decision to centralize production into our North Carolina facility was the product of many months of consideration and analysis and began long before any tariff risks to Prepac’s business arose.”
Bozikis said they are consolidating operations to the North Carolina plant that was originally opened four years ago to accommodate decreasing demand for their products.
