Canada's $27.6 Billion Counter-Tariff List Takes Effect September 8

On August 25, the federal government published its full list of counter-tariffs on U.S. goods: roughly 700 product lines worth $27.6 billion, taxed at 15, 25, or 50 percent depending on category. Steel, aluminum, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics are among the sectors targeted. The move matches, dollar for dollar, the U.S.'s own 50 percent tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods, which took effect August 22 after trade talks between the two countries collapsed. Alongside the tariff list, Ottawa announced a $7.5 billion support package for workers and businesses affected by the disruption.

September 8 is now a hard deadline for any business whose supply chain touches the border. If you source from a tariff-affected category, model the landed cost increase now and get pricing or sourcing messaging ready before the change lands, not after.

Buy Canadian Movement Shows Up in Real E-Commerce Traffic

Renewed trade tensions have reignited the Buy Canadian movement, and this time it is showing up directly in digital commerce numbers rather than just sentiment. Canadian marketplace Common Goods reported a 300 percent jump in site traffic since trade talks broke down, while the Shop Canadian app and the O SCANada product-scanning app both saw sharp download spikes, with O SCANada logging more than 4,000 downloads in a single weekend. New second quarter data from Statistics Canada backs up the shift at the business level: 42.7 percent of retail businesses changed their marketing practices over the past year to promote Canadian products, and 35.8 percent reported increased sales of Canadian goods as a result.

This is measurable discovery behaviour, not just patriotic goodwill. Canadian brands and retailers have a window to lean into Made in Canada positioning across search, social, and app store listings while intent is running high, but the advantage narrows fast as bigger players catch on.

SSENSE Plans U.S. Warehouse to Blunt Tariff Costs

Montreal-based luxury e-commerce platform SSENSE plans to open a U.S. fulfillment centre in the first quarter of 2027, a workaround aimed at reducing the tariff burden on its American customers. Under the plan, goods will be imported into the U.S. warehouse at wholesale value rather than shipped directly to shoppers at retail value, which sharply lowers the duty owed at checkout. SSENSE is also using AI to streamline internal operations as part of its broader turnaround following last year's creditor protection filing, and plans to launch its own in-house clothing line in late 2027.

SSENSE's wholesale-versus-retail duty math is worth understanding even if you cannot build a U.S. warehouse yourself. Any business selling cross-border should review how its goods are valued at the border and whether a fulfillment or import structure change could meaningfully cut landed costs for U.S. customers.

Loblaw Reverses Decision to Drop Country-of-Origin Labels

Loblaw has reversed a decision to drop country-of-origin labelling from produce signage in most provinces, following weeks of customer backlash and a CBC News inquiry. The labelling had quietly disappeared earlier in August, just before Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed and interest in buying Canadian surged. The grocer says it is reinstating origin information at produce displays and bringing back the T symbol that flags products subject to Canadian counter-tariffs. Ontario and Quebec stores never lost the labelling in the first place, since provincial rules already require it.

The backlash shows how fast a transparency decision can become a liability mid trade dispute. If your business touches country-of-origin claims, packaging, or sourcing messaging, assume Canadian shoppers are actively checking right now, and get ahead of the disclosure rather than waiting to be asked.