US products shunned as 'Buy Canadian' movement grows
4 Min Read
The tariffs Trump imposed on the United States' neighbor seem to be backfiring, as Canada works towards relying less on US imports, opting for local production instead.
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A sign is placed in front of products after top-selling American-made items were removed from shelves in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday February 2, 2025. (AP)
The "Buy Canadian" movement is causing concern for US companies that depend on Canadian stores to sell their products, as Canada moves towards trade independence from the United States.
California-based diaper maker Parasol Co had been working with a distributor since January to expand sales of its diapers and baby wipes to new Canadian retailers, including convenience stores, but CEO Jessica Hung said the distributor—whose name she declined to share—halted the deal in early March due to growing anti-American sentiment in Canada, according to Reuters.
"[The distributor] were instructed by a retailer to pause any American brand launch," Hung told Reuters, "They told us they would re-evaluate when market conditions allow."
"That's the kind of disruption we would never expect,” Hung added, "I never heard of this happening until now. It’s definitely quite a bit of headwinds."
Parasol, which primarily sells its products online and at Target stores in the US, was in the process of labeling its packages in French for Canadian shoppers, and Hung mentioned that she had already started determining which specific products would be included in the now-canceled Canada distribution agreement.
Rebecca Asselin, a mother and health insurance professional from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, has been actively sharing her experience on social media about seeking out Canadian-made products.
Reuters cited her saying that she recently started buying Royale diapers, which are produced by Irving Personal Care in Moncton, New Brunswick—one of the few remaining Canadian manufacturers of baby diapers and training pants.
She added that she had never previously thought about where diapers were made but discovered that finding Canadian-made ones was surprisingly difficult, which marked a significant shift in her purchasing habits.
Irving Personal Care reported that retailers across Canada have been contacting them to explore expanding distribution, with Jason McAllister, the company's vice president of business operations, telling Reuters that as the only branded baby diaper manufacturer in Canada, their weekly shipments have quadrupled.
Drinks and citrus take a hit
The Buy Canadian movement is not only impacting a diaper business but also affecting drinks and citrus fruit imported from the US, according to companies. In early March, Brown Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel's, described the removal of American bourbon and whiskey from Canadian liquor stores as more severe than Canada's retaliatory tariffs and an exaggerated response to Trump's levies, according to Reuters.
In early March, a source with knowledge of California's citrus fruit exports informed Reuters that Canadian retailers had canceled their orders, and GT's Living Foods, a Los Angeles-based company famous for its Synergy kombucha products, reported that Canadian retailers, including Walmart, had been reducing their order volumes due to uncertainty surrounding tariffs.
"The distributors for Walmart Canada, Loblaw's, Metro, and Sobey's told us they will buy one truck instead of two trucks of products, because retailers are being cautious and they are waiting to see how this (tariff situation) will play out," Daniel Bukowski, responsible for managing these retailers' accounts at GT's, explained to Reuters.
Walmart said that it "will continue to work closely with suppliers to find the best way forward during these uncertain times," while Metro said that it prioritizes Canadian products whenever possible, and that it intends not to remove American products if the tariffs take effect, according to Reuters.
US brands exit as Canadian firms rise
Demeter Fragrances, a small family-owned perfume manufacturer based in Pennsylvania, announced that it had put its 2025 Canadian expansion plans on hold, with CEO Mark Crames explaining to Reuters that the shift in Canadian consumer sentiment away from American products made the initiative seem like a wasted effort.
On the Canadian side, Grime Eater Products Limited, a company that manufactures Response and Luster Sheen hand cleaning products, had spent years unsuccessfully attempting to get its products stocked by Canadian Tire, according to Vice President Tracy Hayes. Hayes noted that with the growing Buy Canadian movement, the future now appeared promising for the company.
