An Ontario teen has created a website compiling a list of Canadian products 鈥� from clothing to instruments to electronics 鈥� for those who want hit back at the Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs with their wallets.
Tyler Campbell, who resides in Uxbridge, Ont., said he created shortly after July 1 when, in a tit-for-tat retaliation, Canada imposed surtaxes on $16.6 billion of American products in response to the Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
鈥淢y dad, my uncle and I were all together for my uncle鈥檚 birthday party,鈥� Campbell told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning. 鈥淲e realized that we want to buy Canadian and we want to support Canadian businesses, but there鈥檚 not really an easy way to find out what is actually Canadian, so we figured why not just make it ourselves?鈥�
The website鈥檚 database includes 234 鈥淐anadian choices鈥� across 18 categories such as furniture, toys, health and fitness, pet products and food. Each product鈥檚 listing includes details about where in Canada it is manufactured, where in Canada it is sold and whether it is Canadian-owned.
Campbell told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning that the response to his database has been 鈥渙verwhelmingly positive鈥� and that he often receives suggestions of products to add to this list from fellow Canadians.
He said that his website is 鈥渓ess about Trump and more about Canada,鈥� noting that its overall goal is to promote Canadian-made products from Canadian-owned companies.
鈥淢y grandparents were immigrants from Ireland and they started their own small business 35 years ago,鈥� Campbell said. 鈥淭here are so many stories like theirs that don鈥檛 get shared and don鈥檛 get told.鈥�
For Canadians hoping to shop patriotically, Campbell recommends buying local and paying close attention to product labels. A 鈥淧roduct of Canada鈥� label means that virtually all of the major ingredients, processing and labour used to make the product are Canadian. A 鈥淢ade in Canada鈥� label is used for products when the last substantial stage of production of the product happened in Canada, even if some of the ingredients come from other countries.
Campbell said that while it is not impossible, it is expensive to buy only products made in Canada.
鈥淚n theory, I鈥檓 sure you could get by,鈥� he said.
