Canadian customers are telling us that they are businesses stopping purchasing US products. Canadian grocery chains have put American products aside and hope for sales to drop.
Canadian companies have turned down American products, starting with something less essential like alcohol, spreading across more diverse foods than economic experts could potentially collide with different levels of agricultural supply chains.
“Essentially, it all changes overnight and maybe it’s irreparable,” said Alisa Golojova, a Quebec resident. “All of a sudden there was a label saying “Made in Canada,” and American liquor disappeared from the shelf. ”
Gorokhova said he is looking at shoppers who take the task of seriously boycotting our products, actively checking where everything is being made.
The hostility that Canadians are shown towards American products comes after Trump repeatedly imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian exports and recently slapped 25% tax on Canadian steel and aluminum. Trump also frequently speaks about his desire to make Canada the 51st state in the United States, and is called “Governor” Justin Trudeau, Canada’s current prime minister.
As a result, American companies are in a state of crisis. Ethan Frisch, CEO and founder of New York-based Burlap & Barrel, said he is a public benefits company specializing in fairly sourced single-origin spices and receives emails from Canadian customers.
“I really don’t know how to handle this,” Frisch said. “As individuals at Burlap & Barrel, we don’t vote to get Trump into office and we also import some spices from Canada, so our supply chain is very intertwined with the overall tariff situation.”
“All of this could force less purchases from partners by introducing additional levels of risk.
Large grocery chains across Canada are shining a spotlight on local products in response to patriotic sentiment.
Sobeys Inc., Canada’s second largest national food retailer, has around 1,600 stores in 10 states. A spokesman for parent company Empire Company Limited told Business Insider that around 12% of sales in the past year came from products sourced in the US, but “we expect that number to decline given the work to find US sources over the past 30 days.”
With Longo, a family-owned grocery chain with around 1,000 grocery stores in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick, and primarily operated throughout the Greater Toronto region, both said they have rolled out in-store programs that label individual products with more Salie’s Canadian Identification. Local products are also advertised on websites and newsletters.
Latest data from the International Trade Bureau shows that Canada remains the largest destination for US exports of high value agricultural products.
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Downstream effects
Economic and policy experts tell Business Insider that depending on the size of the target and the length of the boycott, the US agricultural sector could suffer, particularly under the current push to reduce current federal spending.
“We’ve seen a lot of people who are interested in public policy and civil engagement at San Jose State University,” said Larry Garton, professor of public policy citizen engagement. “Whether it hurts more than a counterargument, it depends on whether they can focus on a targeted set of products, how serious they are about it, and how much the Canadian government supports boycotts.”
“As I see, Canadians are very proud people and this time they’re very offended,” Gerton said.
Trump’s current tariffs and expected anti-rebellion against China could also intensify the pain above the boycott by Canadians.
Jerry Nickelsberg, an economics professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management, said that while farmers received government subsidies during Trump’s first term when farmers suffered retaliatory tariffs from China, he “doesn’t expect to receive the subsidies this time” under a new directive to cut government spending.
“We can expect US demand for agricultural products to decline not only from Canada but also from China,” Nickelsburg said. “And if you have soft demand, that means this will affect both prices and farmer’s income.”
