- The ‘Buy Canadian,' which began as a response to President Donald Trump's tariffs, has been gaining traction in recent months
- America's largest trading partner, Canada imported $350 billion worth of U.S.-made goods in 2024
- If the boycott continues, American brands could be poised to lose billions of dollars in sales in 2025
The ‘Buy Canadian' movement, which began to gain traction in early 2025 as a response to President Trump's tariff threats, has begun to worry many U.S. retailers, according to Reuters.
The movement, which encourages Canadians to buy from domestic brands rather than American brands, started small, but has now hit many of the country's larger grocery store chains. Loblaws, which operates more than 2,400 locations across Canada, has marked domestic products with a bright red maple leaf to make them easier for shoppers to identify. And Sobeys, which has 1,600 stores under its various banners, began airing a commercial in March that contains the lines "All the best things have always been made here. All we had to do was look."
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Now, many U.S.-based retailers, who banked on selling their products up north, are starting to see the impacts on their bottom line.
One California-based diaper maker, Parasol Co., had been working with distributors for months to begin selling its products in Canada, only to have the deal pulled in March thanks to what its CEO Jessica Hung, described to Reuters as "a growing anti-American sentiment." Several American whiskey and bourbon brands, like Jack Daniels, have also been pulled from liquor store shelves. Lawson Whiting, the CEO of Brown-Forman BF BF.B)), said on an earnings call that the removals were "worse than a tariff" and a "disproportionate response" to the president's levies.
Reuters reported that Canada in 2024 imported $350 billion worth of U.S.-made products, making it America's largest trading partner. Should these boycotts continue, brands could be poised to lose billions of dollars in sales this year.
While some more established brands may be able to weather that storm, smaller companies and start-ups may not be as lucky.
GT's Living Foods, a California company known for its kombucha drinks, told Reuters that it has seen orders cut in half because of the movement. And Demeter Fragrances, a small, family-owned and operated perfume company from Pennsylvania, has halted plans to launch in Canada. "Canadian sentiment has turned away from American product," said Mark Crames, the company's CEO.
But the boycott isn't bad news for all growing brands. Grime Eater Products Ltd., a Canadian company specializing in industrial-strength cleaning solutions, told Reuters it "sees promise" in the Buy Canadian movement, since it may free up shelf space it otherwise would not have had access to.
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And a handful of larger retailers have promised to keep a fair and balanced approach in choosing which products to stock. A spokesman for Canadian grocery chain Metro told Reuters, "Our intent is not to remove American products from our shelves. If the tariffs take effect, we will evaluate as we do currently, all product listings with the intent to offer the best value and products."
A representative for Walmart's WMT Canadian unit told Reuters it "will continue to work closely with suppliers to find the best way forward during these uncertain times.”
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