‘Buy Canadian’ Movement Puts Pressure on US Consumer Goods Firms

America’s relationship with Canada is causing pain for companies on this side of the border.

As Reuters reported Monday (March 31), a growing “Buy Canadian” movement is hurting U.S. consumer goods companies that had depended on selling their products in stores in Canada.

The report cites the example of diaper company Parasol, which learned last month that its Canadian distributor had halted plans to expand sales in that country, due to increasing anti-American sentiments.

“They were instructed by a retailer to pause any American brand launch,” CEO Jessica Hung said, referring to the distributor, whom she did not name. “They told us they would re-evaluate when market conditions allow.”

“That’s the kind of disruption we would never expect,” said Hung. “I never heard of this happening until now. It’s definitely quite a bit of headwinds.”

This situation is unfolding as economic uncertainty tied to tariffs and other policy issues out of Washington continues to hinder U.S. retailers.

As the report notes, the U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner, importing close to $350 billion in American products last year, meaning that a wave of “patriotic consumerism” can make quite an impact.

Fueling this wave is President Trump’s comments about annexing Canada — which he has called the “51st state” — as well as the imposition of tariffs on the country.

As noted here last week, those tariffs are weighing on American consumers as well, dragging down their confidence as they worry about their own financial conditions.

“As they eye the so-far-unknown impact of tariffs, they seem, still, willing to spend, but that spending’s a ‘pull forward’ before things get even more expensive,” PYMNTS wrote following the release of the latest data from The Conference Board on consumer confidence.

That data showed consumer confidence slipped for the fourth straight month in March, with the Expectations Index, which gauges consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, falling by 9.6 points to 65.2, its lowest reading in 12 years.

“Much will be made of the fact that the ‘future’ outlook is below the 80-point level that usually correlates with a recession,” PYMNTS added.

The lack of confidence could be found across all income levels, the report noted, while  “consumers’ optimism about future income — which had held up quite strongly in the past few months — largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers’ assessments of their personal situations,” per a statement from Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, global indicators at the Board.