Cranberry juice, anyone? How the trade war will affect your breakfast table (and many other things)

As Day 2 of the tariff war with the United States dawns over Canada, residents may be contemplating over breakfast what they can do to help. 

"Well, I think that you may reconsider your orange juice for sure," said Sylvain Charlebois, a professor and director of the Agrifood Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. 

Now that tariffs have been imposed, Charlebois said the most effective thing Canadians can do is to continue to support Canadian products. 

"Right now you're seeing a populace rejecting America at the grocery store and sales [of American products] are down five per cent in a month."

And that was before tariffs were imposed. Charlebois expects "the momentum will only grow" now that tariffs are a reality. 

By not buying American, Charlebois said, consumers will "de-Americanize" grocery stores, and that includes a lot of produce and processed goods.  

So when it comes to breakfast, for example, there are a lot of options for New Brunswickers, said David Campbell, an economic development consultant and a former chief economist for the New Brunswick government. 

"A breakfast that is immune from tariffs would include blueberry juice or cranberry juice — we produce a lot of cranberries here in the province. It would include locally sourced beef or pork products."

Eggs and dairy products are also on the safe-from-tariffs breakfast, said Campbell. 

"So there's lots of ways we could buy local. It might be a little more expensive than it was in the past, but it would be less exposed to the challenges now we're facing with the United States."

While it helps to buy local, New Brunswickers simply can't come close to buying enough to make up for the potential loss of U.S. customers, said Campbell. 

For example, New Brunswick produces "enough two-by-fours to serve the entire Canadian market."

"We produce a whole lot more lobster and blueberries and potatoes than we would ever need here in the province — maple syrup. We absolutely have to have export markets for those goods."

And there are some products that we just can't get in Canada, like vehicles, said Campbell. And those things just got more expensive overnight.