OTTAWA, September 12 — Canada’s new counter-tariffs cover nearly C$28 billion (about US$20 billion) of American products, with rates as high as 50%, and Prime Minister Mark Carney says the cost of shifting away from the US as Canada’s largest trading partner is one Canada has chosen to pay. Carney said moving away from the US “will come at a cost,” and that counter-tariffs on American goods “are necessary to protect our workers.” The levies hit steel, furniture and cotton T-shirts, among other categories.
The retaliation has coincided with a domestic buying surge that is showing up in company results across several sectors.
Ice cream, gifts and a slogan
Chapman’s, Canada’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer, has posted some of its best summer sales during the trade tensions. The family-run company employs 1,150 people in Markdale, Ontario, about two hours north-west of Toronto. “Every time Trump insults Canada, Canadians buy more Canadian things,” chief operating officer Ashley Chapman told the Financial Times.
“It actually has worked out quite well for us.” Chapman’s has been reworking its supply chain since March last year, when Trump launched his first round of tariffs on Canada. More than 70% of its American ingredients and components are expected to be replaced with Canadian or non-US sources by mid-2027.
“If you had asked me two years ago, ‘what about sourcing your almonds from Australia?’ [instead of the US] I would have said you were insane,” Chapman said. “It’s no great surprise that Trump is pushing for more concessions, more everything. But certainly Canadians have had enough.
The buy Canadian movement is strong and getting stronger.” In Ottawa, Maker House has spent the past 18 months selling 300 Canadian-made products and stopped shipping to the US after tariffs raised its costs. Owner Gareth Davies said the store had “a really good year last year” and saw a further lift in the past week.
Among its best sellers were items carrying the slogan “elbows up,” a phrase the source ties to resisting Trump’s hostility towards Canada. “Everything in the store is made in Canada, you don’t need to worry and check the labels,” Davies said. “All this is a reminder that we can do better to protect our own economy by supporting Canadians who are making things.”
Wine and defence manufacturing
Ontario’s wine industry felt the shift when American alcohol was pulled from the shelves of the province’s government-run liquor stores in response to Trump’s March 2025 tariffs. Local producers reported a “significant boost” as consumers bought local. At Leaning Post Wines in Niagara, near Lake Ontario, sales rose by 3,000 cases.
“We saw an additional 3,000 cases of wine sold. When you only make 8,000 cases, that’s a significant increase,” said Nadia Senchuk, who runs the winery with her husband Ilya.
“Our growth was great over the past 18 months.” Ontario has nearly 200 wineries, which contribute more than C$5.5bn (about US$4bn) to the Canadian economy each year and employ 22,000 people, according to the Vintners Quality Alliance. Sales of VQA wine were up 10% year on year last year. Defence manufacturing is another beneficiary.
Ontario-based Wuxly began by making coats for Canadian winters and now produces defence- and aerospace-grade clothing. Watch whether the sourcing shift Chapman’s has begun becomes standard practice across Canadian manufacturing, and whether the buying wave holds as the tariff fight runs on.
