Canadians Double Down on U.S. Boycotts Over Tariffs and Trump’s ‘Lake America’

Canadians are fighting back against the Trump administration’s latest moves, including with a new “Lake Ontario” chocolate bar. (Courtesy Peace by Chocolate)

Key Points

• President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs and verbal attacks on Canada have spurred Canadians to double down on an ongoing boycott of U.S. products.
• Canadian businesses and provinces are replacing American goods, with Manitoba pulling U.S. alcohol from its provincially run liquor stores.
• Canadian travel to the U.S. has declined, with overall Canadian travel to the country falling 25% in 2025.

President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs and latest verbal attacks on Canada have spurred Canadians to double down on their ongoing boycott of all things U.S.A.

On top of Trump’s claims that Canadians have been “ripping off” the U.S., Trump has repeatedly insulted America’s biggest trading partner as “the 51st state.” His executive order last month changing Lake Ontario’s name to “Lake America” ignited a fresh round of Canadian ire.

One Canadian summed up the country’s mood by explaining what people were doing at the grocery store: “I put at least $60 worth of product back on the shelf” because the contents were America-made, a woman posted on social media, adding “#boycottusa.”

Another added: “40 million Canadians buying $334 billion of American product is roughly $8,300 per Canadian a year… We are the best customers America has on this planet, seven times over. Let’s change that. #BoycottUSA”

Boycotting American products started over a year ago, when Trump’s second term began and he immediately set out with his 51st state comments and slapped tariffs on Canadian imports to the U.S.

Trump has recently ignited a new front in that trade battle, threatening to sharply increase U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports by up to 50%, prompting Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney to threaten his own tariffs on American goods in retaliation.

Loblaws , Canada’s largest supermarket chain, is offering to help its shoppers more easily find their favorite Canadian foods and avoid American products by marking items with a “Prepared in Canada” badge online and a maple leaf symbol on store shelves.

Peace by Chocolate, a family-owned chocolate maker based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is now offering a limited-edition chocolate and maple cream bar called “Lake Ontario.”

“Our team started working on it the minute the news came out of the White House because of what it meant to our family and our staff from Ontario and others across the country,” said founder and CEO Tareq Hadhad.

The candy maker explained to Barron’s that Ontarí’io is a Native American word meaning “great lake” or “beautiful lake” that dates back over 400 years. “That history should not be erased,” he said.

Chapman’s Ice Cream, Canada’s largest independent ice cream maker, has now pledged to replace more than 70% of its American ingredients with items from other Canadian or non-U. S. suppliers by mid-2027. That includes wafers for its ice cream sandwiches, almonds from Australia, and cherries from Chile, the CBC reported.

Chapman’s, based in Markdale, Ontario, has signed a five-year deal with another Ontario-based company, Original Foods Limited, to make its sugar cones on equipment from Germany. CEO Ashley Chapman told the CBC that importing almonds from Australia costs less than buying them from America, even with shipping. “So we’re finding a lot of opportunities out there,” he said.

Manitoba, the province north of Minnesota and North Dakota, has again pulled U.S. alcohol off the shelves of its 64 provincially run Manitoba Liquor Mart stores, taking the same action it did in March 2025, when it also halted U.S. imports.

“Prime Minister Carney was very clear that we were attacked,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew told reporters about the move.

David Ortega, a food economics and policy professor at Michigan State University, told Barron’s that the Canadian pullback from U.S. products is having a real effect, though it’s very tough to know how much that comes from consumer boycotting U.S. tariffs, provincial alcohol delistings, and retailers’ sourcing decisions. He pointed out that Canada’s official trade data show that imports from the U.S. fell 10.8% in April 2025, while imports from other countries increased 8.3%, and said the shift away from U.S. sourcing has persisted.

“At the company level, the most visible effects have been in categories where policy and sentiment reinforce each other,” he said. “I was in Canada earlier this summer and noticed that the LCBOs [Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores] in Ontario were not carrying any American products.”

Canadians are also boycotting travel to the U.S. Overall Canadian travel to the U.S. fell 25% in 2025. In Las Vegas, international traffic at Harry Reid International Airport is down 9% year to date, according to Benchmark Equity Research. Air Canada and WestJet traffic to Las Vegas has declined 13% and 23%, respectively.

Michael Hickey, a Benchmark entertainment and digital media analyst, wrote that Las Vegas tourism officials and casino operators are now courting Canadians through direct outreach, currency-matching promotions, and hockey-related events. The Vegas Golden Knights are hosting five Canadian teams in October and November that they hope will attract Canadian hockey fans.

Jonathan Jossel, CEO of the Plaza Hotel & Casino, a 1,000-room resort, casino, equestrian center, and convention center in Las Vegas, said that the number of Canadian visitors to the Plaza’s casino has dropped 23.7% so far this year and has dropped 35.6% year to date compared with 2024.

He’s hearing from Canadians that it isn’t because of price or promotions. “It’s about the principle, and they’re not coming back,” he told Barron’s, saying he wants all Canadians to know that “They are definitely welcome in Las Vegas.”

That may not be enough, according to Canadians on social media. “Deal or no deal with the U.S. this nasty Canadian will not be visiting the States nor spending a penny on booze and other products from the States for the rest of my days,” one wrote. “I am not alone in this. Sad but true.”

Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan and founder of Platypus Economics, says: “Turns out the surest way to lose a Canadian’s business is to keep calling their country the 51st state.”

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

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