Canadian supermarkets accused of drastic act amid US product boycott

Canadian supermarkets have found themselves in a pickle after shoppers turned their back on US items in response to Mr Trump’s hefty tariffs.

Canadian supermarkets have found themselves with a backlog of unsold stock after shoppers launched a “boycott” in response to President Donald Trump’s hefty new tariffs.

In response to patriotic consumers wanting to purchase only domestic products, the country’s grocery giants began making shopping for local items easier, by adding a maple leaf symbol to price-tags on Canadian goods.

The move was widely welcomed in the midst of the trade war, sparked between the two neighbouring nations when the President had announced blanket 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico in February, accusing its major trading partners of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who will step down as PM in days – quickly retaliated with immediate 25 per cent tariffs on C$30bn (about $33.3bn Australian Dollars) worth of US imports which would primarily affect US beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances and Florida orange juice.

With many Canadians boycotting products from the US in the supermarket, retailers have introduced maple leaf symbols to make shopping easier. Picture: TikTok/@rainavarty

But some are claiming that grocery chains have been advertising US products as local ones in an effort to get consumers to resume purchasing. Picture: Reddit

Mr Trudeau also labelled Mr Trump’s decision “dumb” and accused the President of trying to cause the collapse of Canada’s economy to make it easier for the United States to annex his country.

“The market is going to go downhill faster than the American bobsled team. It’s going to be an absolute disaster for both countries,” he told NBC News.

“There’s no country in the world that buys more products off the U.S. than we do.

“We’re the No. 1 trading customer to 28 states, and a lot of them are red states. They’re going to feel the pain like they’ve never felt before.”

While both nations have announced temporary holds on some of the measures, Mr Trudeau said negotiations would likely continue for the “foreseeable future”.

In response, many Canadians have decided to hit the US where it hurts, and turn their backs on American products in its supermarkets.

Videos shared on TikTok show sold out shelves of Canadian and international produce next to fully-stocked shelves of their US-made counterparts.

“This is how almost every Canadian shops nowadays,” one declared.

But this has left retailers with large amounts of stock that isn’t shifting, causing Canadian supermarkets to allegedly take drastic action, the New York Post reports.

Dubbed “maple washing”, grocery stores have been accused of advertising US products as local ones in an effort to get consumers to resume purchasing.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retaliated against Donald Trump’s ‘dumb’ trade war. Picture: Dave Chan/AFP

Dubbed ‘maple washing’, the alleged supermarket act has led to skyrocketing complaints to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Picture: Reddit

The seemingly desperate act has shoppers outraged, with complaints to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency skyrocketing as a result, the publication added.

Reddit has exploded with photos exposing the alleged “deliberate mislabelling” as many share tips for how to spot affected items and avoid accidentally buying US products.

“It’s not the fact that I’m protesting against $7 bok choy, it’s the fact that Costco mislabelled it when it’s a US product and half of the country is currently hating on those asshats,” one wrote, alongside a snap of the price tag which reads “product of Mexico” while the details on the vegetable’s packaging states it is a “product of the USA”.

Shelves that stock Canadian products are mostly ‘sold out’. Picture: TikTok/@annikboudreau

While American items can’t be shifted. Picture: TikTok/@annikboudreau

Another post urged people keep reading the “made in” and “product of” on the packaging.

“Don’t trust the produce signs. Check labels and stickers,” it said, alongside an image of an orange citrus fruit that was being advertised as a “product of Morocco”.

However, on the product itself, it once again said it was “produce of the USA”.

“I politely pointed the discrepancies out to the staff member working in the produce department. I mentioned that many people are looking to boycott products from the US and that it would helpful if their signage was accurate. He said he’d mention it to his supervisor but I got the impression that it wasn’t an issue that interested him enough to follow up on,” the poster said.

Metro and Sobey’s, two major grocery chains in Canada, both attributed the mismatch to labelling errors, telling the New York Post they were corrected once brought to the store’s attention.

Originally published as Canadian supermarkets accused of drastic act amid US product boycott