tariff announcement: we're opting for support, not penalties. Worldwide, even for the USA. As a proud Canadian company, we're first and foremost supporting Canada with 25% incentives. Global companies choosing tension can get 20%, and even our southern neighbours can get 10%. Read for details. We choose business. We choose prosperity.
A very small Canadian firm’s economic response.
Good morning citizens of Canada, the USA and the world.
Tomorrow marks is a brave new world in north America's shared economies.
As everyone is well aware, the Canada-USA trade relationship took a serious hit this weekend, and the financial friendship between our two nations will suffer — but it will hit hardest for the small & medium sized businesses, cross-border-trade-dependant organizations, their employees, and frankly, anyone who buys anything, or eats anything.
This weekend, the Trump administration instituted tariffs on Canadian goods, and Canada responded with its own retaliatory tariffs. While these tariffs, for now at least, have no impact on cross-border service delivery, which Tension and our US clients mutually benefit from, and while they will not directly increase our costs to our American clients — they will have indirect financial consequences for all of us, north and south of the border as most goods, foods and energy will increase in price significantly.
This may be short-lived as the reality of these decisions materialize quickly, or this may be the new reality for our nations — either way, things just changed. And while I have thoughts, I will not comment on the politics, nor take sides, nor offer my opinions. I’ll leave that to politicians and economists. No matter how difficult that is for me.
Ever since the rumblings of tariffs on Canadian goods began on the campaign trail, the impact they might have on Tension has been top of mind for me, obviously. How will it affect my business, what impact will it have on my expenses, my profitability? How challenging will it become for my employees to live on their current wages, when everything they consume becomes more expensive as a result? Will we have to charge more to cover that delta? What will this mean for our existing US-based clients, how will it change how we work with them, and how much we bill them?
Honestly speaking, some of our favourite clients are in the US. Period. US-based clients have been a solid part of Tension’s history — since our incorporation in 2020, mere days before COVID lockdowns. In fact, Tension’s first client was American: the University of Phoenix, and throughout our 5 years, we’ve enjoyed many successful engagements with US clients and partners. In fact, a couple of the projects we’re most excited about and proud of right now, that are currently in-flight, are for US-based clients. We love our American cousins. Truly.
Tension has always benefitted from Canada’s free trade relationship with the USA, as many Canadian and American business do everyday. It goes without saying that free-trade is an extremely powerful and mutually beneficial arrangement for both sides. As for our American clients, not only is Tension a wold-class Product Strategy, UX and Design partner, but with zero-rated tax on cross-border service delivery AND an extremely favourable exchange rate — which will only get even more favourable in the near term — Tension is literally a no-brainer for US-based companies looking to deliver next-level product and service innovation in Mobile, Web3, Web2 and Spatial Computing — faster, better, and more economically.
Now, setting my own sense of grandeur aside, I know that all I can do is sit back and watch the bloodbath as it unfolds. Nothing I say, or do, or write, or design or build will change anything. The wheels of change have already been set in motion.
What Tension and I CAN do, and ARE doing, is offer companies who decide to work with us, a much needed financial break in this uncertain time.
Where everything around us is getting more expensive. Tension will become less expensive. I know this by no means will offset the effect of the tariffs on most businesses, but considering their wide-reaching implications, every little bit helps. And we always want to help.
Effective Today, we are introducing 3 tiers of financial incentives available to new Tension clients: 25% for Canadian companies, 20% for European companies, and 10% for American companies.
These are honest, flat, and real discounts that qualifying new clients can take advantage of right now. Our goals with these discounts are simple, and transparent:
I’m being completely honest with why I’m offering these incentives: it’s half nationalism, half protectionism, but it’s 100% business. I love what we’re doing here at Tension, and I don’t ever want to stop. At the end of the day I want myself, and my team, to be able to continue making the magic we make every day, until I die, and I will do whatever is necessary to keep this going.
So, I’m making it easier for anyone, anywhere to choose Tension. To choose a brilliant, talented, experienced, motivated, 100% Canadian, and quality-focussed group of strategists, designers, and developers offering end-to-end, strategy-through-development solutions for all clients wherever they are, who want to differentiate themselves in their respective markets, and win the hearts and minds of their ideal customers though outstanding products and services. Sounds like a global mission to me, and a global need.
Tension’s Tariff Incentives are as follows:
All of the above incentives are effective immediately, and will continue for a minimum of 3 months until the end of April 2025, or until the tariffs from both countries end — whichever comes first.
See this for what it is. Call it what you want. But any way you slice it, it’s actually a great deal and beneficial to all, which is the exact opposite of the tariffs levied by both countries. We’re doing this for ourselves, we’re doing it for Canada — but you can’t argue you won’t benefit too.
Reach out. We look forward to helping you destroy your competitors, dominate your markets, win over new customers, and keep the ones you already have happy and wanting more. It’s what we do at Tension.
Sincerely,
Adam R.T. Smith