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Canada Goose Boycott Talk In China Sends Company’s Shares Reeling

Simply having "Canada" in its name could be why the brand may be targeted for boycott.
A woman wears a Canada Goose jacket in Times Square, New York, March 16, 2017. Canada Goose shares have tanked in recent days, amid talk of a boycott in China brought about by the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer in Vancouver.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
A woman wears a Canada Goose jacket in Times Square, New York, March 16, 2017. Canada Goose shares have tanked in recent days, amid talk of a boycott in China brought about by the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer in Vancouver.

There is a casualty in the simmering conflict between Canada and China over the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver: The iconic Canada Goose brand.

Canada Goose shares fell nearly 19 per cent between Wednesday of last week and Tuesday of this week, as news of Meng's arrest raised concerns that a brewing China-U.S. trade war would hurt North American brands in China's rapidly growing market.

The company's shares showed signs of a rebound Wednesday, up around 5 per cent in early trading.

Watch: Who is Meng Wanzhou? 5 things to know about Huawei's CFO. Story continues below.

Despite only about 10 per cent of Canada's Goose's revenue coming from China, investors see the famed coat maker's fortunes there as being so important that CNBC declared the company's shares a bellwether of how the trade war is going.

A report Monday in the Chinese state-controlled Global Times suggested that consumers in China are calling for a boycott of Canada Goose over Meng's arrest. A boycott would benefit Canada Goose's local Chinese competitors, such as down clothing company Bosideng, which has seen its share price rise over the past week.

Canada Goose launched in China last year, and the brand took off after some well-known figures including China's third-richest person, Jack Ma were seen wearing their parkas.

While other Canadian brands like Tim Hortons operate in China, Canada Goose may have been targeted for a boycott simply because it has "Canada" in its name, a report at Bloomberg suggests.

China's government is "trying to hit (Canada) where it hurts," retail consultant Bruce Winder told CBC News.

Beijing is trying to "use its citizenry to sort of talk about the boycott to put extreme pressure on Canada to release the executive before she's extradited to the U.S.," Winder added.

Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities, in a move many around the world interpreted as a U.S. salvo in the trade war with China.

In court hearings over the past week, it emerged that the U.S. is accusing Meng of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Supreme Court of British Columbia released Meng on $10 million bail on Tuesday.

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