By Bruce Winder. I think as Canadians we need to strike the right balance between “buying Canadian” and “avoiding American” products during the trade war with the US. On the surface, consumers may want to boycott American products and retailers but I think we need to be careful with this.
Why?
American companies, with Canadian operations, employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians at stores, warehouses, delivery companies and buy from thousands of Canadian suppliers.
I recently read the op-ed below in The Globe and Mail written by John Turley-Ewart titled “Canada, don’t get carried away with rah-rah economic nationalism” and thought he raised some good points. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-canada-dont-get-carried-away-with-
rah-rah-economic-nationalism/
Turley-Ewart discusses how the City of Toronto has instructed staff to stop using Amazon for city purchases. But Amazon Canada employs over 45,000 workers and has spent about $50 BN in this country since 2010. With over 70 facilities, they are the de facto distribution system for Canada and sell the products of tens of thousands of Canadian 3rd party marketplace suppliers. Not to mention the millions of dollars they buy from Canadian vendors through their own main line website. Does this seem right to you?
I think some retailers have got the trade war balance right (ie. Loblaw) but other entities (i.e. LCBO) have taken more of an extreme view.
Loblaw has been very clear they are not anti-American; they simply use icons and signage to be transparent to the shopper which items are made or processed in Canada (using a Maple Leaf) and which products are impacted by US imposed tariffs or Canada imposed counter tariffs (with a T). This gives the consumer the right information to make their own decision.
At the LCBO, all US-made alcohol brands have been removed from shelves, online and through wholesalers. This may be too extreme. What about the Canadians who work for these US brands? I am sure many of these firms have Canadian subsidiaries that take care of Canadian sales, marketing, and supply chain, not to mention other support activities. Will these employees lose their jobs now that demand has dried up?
What is the right balance and how do consumers even know if a particular retailer or supplier is owned by Canadians, employs Canadians, or buys from Canadian suppliers? It can be tough to get enough information to make that decision. That is where retailers can help inform consumers through shelf labels and online icons. Nothing beats a good Google search too, letting AI do some research for you.
As a country we need to use caution and not “throw out the baby with the bath water” so to speak. Our supply chains and value chains are intertwined with the US (and globally) and this trade war will not last forever. We need to protect Canada’s interests while protecting Canadian jobs and protecting foreign investment in this country if we are to ever meet our full economic potential.
(Bruce Winder is a retail analyst and author)
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A great Op-Ed Bruce.
I have argued for several months this Canadian fervour for “ditching American companies and their products” needs to be tempered with some humility as the American retailers, not only employ 10000s of Canadians, they serve Canadian communities up and down the country and, importantly, contribute to the tax take this government need to provide public services.
Sure, we should give Canadian products a new look, especially as many American imported products carry a 25% government imposed tariff (and we know Canadians like to save money!), however, don’t abandon the Canadian based American retailers here, just give Canadian products they sell an opportunity to impress (and save some coopers).
I totally agree. I’ve been saying this all along. Even if a product is an American company but employs Canadians I will continue to purchase them. We need to keep Canadian people working.
It’s easy to ‘jump on the band wagon’ and go off the deep end on the “buy Canadian” push. This article well positions the spectrum of considerations.
Forty years ago, I was tendering to sell computers to a Toronto area School Board. Even back then, there were “Buy Canadian” guidelines… but the rationale was different. “Canadian Content” was calculated as “How much of each dollar spent” remained in Canada. Although our product was manufactured in Fort Worth, Texas, by the calculations, the computer equipment had 46% Canadian Content. The moral of the tory here is, when considering what product to buy (or not), look not only at place of manufacture, but rather, how much Canadian Content, financially speaking is in the product.
Bruce, you’re completely out to lunch here. Why should Canadians support American-owned businesses or buy American-made products, just because a few Canadians may be employed at the far downstream end of the supply chain? Canada’s economic future hangs in the balance with an American president who just told TIME Magazine he doesn’t want Canada “to make cars for us. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada.”
Americans apparently don’t want to buy anything we have to offer, yet we’re supposed to keep purchasing their consumer products, drinking their liquor, vacationing in their country, and shopping with retailers whose profits ultimately flow back to the United States? (Last time I checked, Bentonville was in Arkansas and Issaquah was in Washington State). Come on, Bruce. Even you know that isn’t just or fair.
Agree 100%
Besides Canada, there is a world of Countries out there that we can buy products from that would love to do business with us.
Canadians are making that shift….
The days of American being the centre of the Universe are long gone and our relationship with them is over.
You must be an American!
Though it may be impossible to avoid American products altogether I’m giving it my best shot.
The unsolicited attack on Canada through illegal ‘trade war” actions, verbal insults to our Country and Leaders and threat of annexation are impossible to overlook.
In my personal life as well as operating my company I have pivoted away from American products wherever possible.
Support and buy Canadian and the Canadian jobs will come.