Trump’s trade war: How soon will grocery prices go up in Canada?

Canadians can expect to see their grocery bills go up and even shortages in some store aisles amid a trade war with the U.S., the Retail Council of Canada warned.

Canadians can expect to see their grocery bills go up in the near future and even shortages in some store aisles amid a trade war with the United States, the Retail Council of Canada warns.

On Tuesday, a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the U.S. went into effect as well as Canada’s counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods.

Canada trades billions of dollars’ worth in grocery items with the U.S., including $72.6 billion in agriculture and agri-food products, according to government data.

The trade war is going to have a “negative impact pretty quickly on Canadians’ access to food and groceries,” said Matt Poirier, vice-president of federal government relations for the Retail Council of Canada.

“It’s a very challenging time to say the least and it won’t take long for consumers to see prices go up and certainly for consumers to maybe even see shortages of certain items depending on what sector we’re looking at.”

In the weeks leading up to the tariffs, Canadian grocers have been pivoting away from U.S. products and ramping up efforts to make more local alternatives available.

The tariff threats from the U.S. have also given rise to a wave of “buy Canadian” sentiment in Canada in recent weeks.

Canadian grocers Loblaw and Longo’s said they are looking at ways to reduce the impact of the tariffs on customers, including finding alternatives to U.S. products from within Canada and other countries as well as promoting home-grown products.