The $5 T-Shirt That Beat a 145% Tariff

How a made-in-China “Boycott China” tee exposed everything broken about global trade—and why Canadian businesses need a new way forward.

If you want to see everything wrong with global trade, look at a T-shirt.

Not just any T-shirt.

We’re talking about over 100,000 anti-China shirts—bought in the U.S., worn proudly in protest... and manufactured, printed, and shipped straight from China.

Let that marinate.

America tried to hurt China with the highest tariffs in modern history—up to 145% on goods. In response, China made millions selling anti-China merch to Americans.

This isn’t irony. This is capitalism tap dancing on your head.

And it’s exactly why the global trade system is broken—and why Canada needs a platform like Rise With North.

We didn’t build Rise With North because we wanted to. We built it because we had no damn choice.

While the U.S. and China flex their economic muscles, Canada has been the awkward dinner guest at a food fight.

We don’t get the subsidies.

We don’t write the rules.

But we pay the price.

Our supply chains get disrupted.

Our costs go up.

And our businesses—especially the small and medium ones—are left scrambling.

That’s when we realized:

The only way to win is to build our own table.

So we created Canada’s first B2B trading platform. Not to follow the rules of the old world—but to write our own.

Tariffs won’t save you. Trade will.

Let’s get one thing straight:

Tariffs don’t protect jobs. They punish businesses.

Mostly small ones. Mostly yours.

While politicians puff their chests and slap on import taxes, your freight costs go up. Your delivery times get longer. Your customers get cranky. And your margins vanish like snow in April.

Meanwhile, the big players?

They just pivot.

They renegotiate contracts.

They find loopholes.

And China?

China turns political tension into a merch drop and laughs all the way to the bank.

This is the wake-up call.

If a made-in-China “Boycott China” T-shirt can cross an ocean, dodge a tariff, and land in Detroit for five bucks...

Don’t tell us trade is dead. Tell us the system is rigged.

You’re not losing because you can’t compete.

You’re losing because you’ve been using platforms that were never built for you.

Amazon doesn’t care about your freight issues.

Alibaba doesn’t know where Saskatoon is.

American platforms serve American interests.

Chinese platforms serve Chinese interests.

So who’s serving Canada?

Now someone is.

Rise With North is Canada’s answer to a broken system.

We don’t just let Canadian businesses trade.

We let them compete. Dominate. Expand.

This Isn’t Just a Platform. It’s a Power Shift.

If a $5 T-shirt can outsmart a 145% tariff, what else are we capable of—if we stop waiting for someone else to fix the rules?

Rise With North isn’t a marketplace.

It’s a middle finger to a global trade system that forgot about Canada.

It’s a place where:

• Canadian suppliers don’t get drowned out by overseas giants.
• Canadian buyers don’t get gouged by hidden fees.
• And Canadian businesses finally stop playing second fiddle in someone else’s economy.

We’re not asking for a seat at the table anymore.

We built our own damn table.

And we’re inviting every manufacturer, supplier, wholesaler, and builder in this country to take their rightful place at it.

Because in this game?

You either rise—or get left behind.

Trade like a nation that knows its worth.

Built in Canada. Built for business. Built to win.