Canadian Dealers Quit US Fairs as Tariffs Reshape Market
Canadian galleries are pulling out of US fairs ahead of Miami Art Week
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By Dillan Payne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikipedia Commons
Canadian dealers are pulling out of US art fairs as US president Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs reshape the Canadian art market.
Macaulay & Co Fine Art, which has locations in Vancouver and Toronto, has cancelled plans for a fair during Miami Art Week next month. ‘It’s just too risky’, founding director Sarah Macaulay told the Art Newspaper. Andy Sylvester of Vancouver’s Equinox Gallery told the paper he expects US sales, once around 15 percent of his total, to disappear.
Vancouver’s Wil Aballe Art Projects has also paused its US fair programme, in favour of Belgium and Germany, Artnet reported, while Toronto’s Cooper Cole has said it may follow depending on how the dispute develops.
The retreat comes off a substantial base: 76 Canadian dealers took part in at least 28 US fairs in 2024, according to the Art Dealers Association of Canada.
The tariffs, in force since 22 August, cover paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, pastels and collages, plus materials including bone, horn and antler, hitting Indigenous artists hardest. Canada’s counter-tariffs, imposed in early September, apply to materials used to make and transport art.
Two-thirds of Canada’s cultural exports go to the US – a dependency the association told the Art Newspaper is a significant concern for its members.
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