DFC Woodworks (The Best Muskoka Chair Company)

In their own words

• This is quite the blow for us. Very difficult.

  François Bruneau, owner, DFC Woodworks · cp24.com, Sep 3, 2026

  Owner François Bruneau describes the immediate hit the 50% US tariff has dealt his Kemptville, Ontario chair business.

• Just to give you an idea, our last shipment was a small shipment. Over the next eight weeks, I'm looking at $75,000 in duties that I have to come up with, and I don't know about you, but that's a killer for a small company like ours.

  François Bruneau, owner, DFC Woodworks · cp24.com, Sep 3, 2026

  Bruneau puts a dollar figure on the duty bill: $75,000 due within eight weeks on top of normal costs.

• We're not going to go and charge our clients 50 per cent more than they paid; they're just going to cancel their orders, so at this point we have to swallow that charge.

  François Bruneau, owner, DFC Woodworks · cp24.com, Sep 3, 2026

  Rather than pass the tariff straight to US buyers, Bruneau says the company is absorbing the cost itself to avoid losing orders.

• For a small company like us, we don't want to move. We've been in business since 1955 — 71 years in business — and we're proud Canadians. We want to stay in Canada, but given these kinds of tariffs, we won't have a choice. If we want to survive, we'll have to move to the U.S. and we don't want to.

  François Bruneau, owner, DFC Woodworks · cp24.com, Sep 3, 2026

  Bruneau says the tariffs are pushing him to consider moving operations to the US against his own wishes.

• If they finally negotiate something in the 10 or 15 per cent range, we could survive that. Fifty per cent is not survivable.

  François Bruneau, owner, DFC Woodworks · cp24.com, Sep 3, 2026

  Bruneau says the current 50% rate is unsustainable, though a much lower negotiated rate would be workable.

Quoted word for word from public posts and articles. Owners can claim the listing to add or remove a quote.

Made in Canada

The chairs are handcrafted at the company's own shop in Kemptville, Ontario, under the storefront line "MADE IN CANADA - STAYING IN CANADA - PROUDLY CANADIAN FOR OVER 70 YEARS".

On the tariff list

• HTS 9401.69.60 · Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof, Other seats, with wooden frames, Other, Other, Chairs, Other · 50% since Aug 22, 2026

  The shop's core product is the "Classic Muskoka Chair", a non-upholstered chair with a solid wood frame, which enters the United States under HTS 9401.69.60.

Rates are the additional US duty under Section 338. About the tariffs

Sources

• thebestmuskokachair.ca · accessed 2026-09-09

  MADE IN CANADA - STAYING IN CANADA - PROUDLY CANADIAN FOR OVER 70 YEARS

• thebestmuskokachair.ca · accessed 2026-09-09

  Handcrafting outdoor furniture since 1955

• thebestmuskokachair.ca · accessed 2026-09-09

  Classic Muskoka Chair

• cp24.com · accessed 2026-09-09

  Over the next eight weeks, I'm looking at $75,000 in duties that I have to come up with, and I don't know about you, but that's a killer for a small company like ours.

• cp24.com · accessed 2026-09-09

  Fifty per cent is not survivable.

• cp24.com · accessed 2026-09-09

  DFC Woodworks is based out of Kemptville, Ont., just south of Ottawa, and has been in business since 1955. The company sells Muskoka chairs, also known as Adirondack chairs, through its website. The company was founded by Gérard Bruneau and is now owned and operated by his son François.

• cp24.com · accessed 2026-09-09

  Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Thursday, François Bruneau said about 70 per cent of his client base is in the U.S., and the latest tariffs are putting a serious strain on his ability to remain competitive.