The latest casualty in the trade war between Canada and the United States is the popular Bick’s brand of pickles, which are produced exclusively for the Canadian market using homegrown cucumbers, but have been recently removed from various store shelves due to the cost of

tariffs . Bick’s pickles are sent to the U.S. for packaging in glass jars. As a result, they’re classified as U.S. imports when they are brought back into this country, making them subject to Canada’s counter tariffs, which include a 25 per cent tariff on “cucumbers and gherkins.”

“The way the tariff is applied right now is on a harmonized system code basis, and so if a good comes in the category with a 25 per cent duty on it, it would not get an exemption as that category is specifically targeted,” Werner Antweiler, an associate professor and chair of international trade policy at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, said.

“The government selected these goods because there are available Canadian alternatives. Consumers do have the option of buying an alternative and not paying the high price for tariffed products.”

It’s a case of how today’s supply chains can inadvertently drive up costs for local products and reduce their competitiveness, prompting some retailers to drop them in favour of tariff-free alternatives.

Under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement ( CUSMA ), a product substantially transformed in one of the three countries qualifies as originating from there.

The final packaging of Bick’s pickles happens in the U.S., so they “originate” from the U.S. and are subject to Canada’s tariffs.

Antweiler said certain stores are marking tariffed products with a “T” as the

Buy Canadian movement gains popularity. The change in preference from consumers is a “selection story,” according to him, one that is driven by personal choices to disassociate themselves from brands that have links to the U.S. .

But the decline in Bick’s sales is more because of the increased price of the product due to the tariff rather than customers choosing to buy local.

Many Canadian companies ship raw goods to the U.S. for processing because of lower costs, greater scale, specialized equipment or long-standing supplier contracts. For example, they can depend on U.S. suppliers for glass containers given the limited manufacturing of them domestically.

This approach has long been an efficient way to compete, but the new tariffs are exposing its vulnerabilities.

Many products cross the border multiple times before reaching store shelves, and a single U.S.-made component can change the product’s trade classification.

That can make a Canadian-grown or -produced item more expensive, thereby narrowing margins and making it harder to compete with tariff-free alternatives.

Antweiler said companies may try to keep their existing manufacturing chains if they think the tariffs are temporary.

“If tariffs are expected to stay in place for a long time, companies will find new partners and revamp their supply chains to avoid cross-border traffic,” he said. “If they’re seen as temporary, most will hold their breath and wait it out.”

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But tariff pressures could force companies to rethink their sourcing, invest in Canadian capacity or risk losing shelf space to tariff-free competitors.