This article was published previously on CambridgeToday.
Don and Linda Mader's Monday-morning shop at Costco had "Made In Canada" written all over it.
With a 25 per cent tariff threat still on the table south of the border, the Bright, Ont. couple was in Kitchener to stock up on a few staples.
But their cart was admittedly sparse compared to normal trips into the city.
Linda said that's because they discovered many of the items they normally would have purchased are made in the U.S.
Instead of their regular protein drink, they picked up a box of brust, a cold brew coffee made by a small Canadian company. Other items included a pack of hummus made in Quebec, two flats of Canadian-made bread and the couple's sole international purchase, a bag of frozen brocolli from Ecuador.
Buying Ontario grown-produce in season is something the Maders have always done and will continue to do even if U.S. tariffs come and go, Don said.
"I think it's a good thing to buy Canadian. This tariff thing just kind of maybe made people more aware. We're farmers, so we buy local. It's a good thing when people do that because it helps support the farmers."
Don was optimistic a reprieve from the threatened tariffs would materialize after hearing Mexico negotiated a deal, and by the end of the day that was the case with a 30-day delay negotiated with Trump at the last minute.
He thinks the whole thing is nothing more than posturing for the U.S. president, who doubled down Monday on the claim he wants to see Canada become the 51st state.
"I think we have a lot more that they need from us," Linda said.
"Yeah, we'll cut hydro and the oil off, see what happens," Don added.
Before retaliatory measures get that extreme, Doug Ford's announcement that Ontario would follow BC and Nova Scotia to remove U.S. liquor from LCBO shelves if tariffs go into effect had some consumers out early to stock up.
As the stores opened across the city Monday, however, prominent displays of Jim Beam and Jack Daniels still greeted customers near the entrance of the new Hespeler Road location.
Dave Bullock was among several early shoppers at the Holiday Inn Drive LCBO eager to pick up a bottle or two of his favourite bourbon fearing it would soon disappear from store shelves.
Asked if he'd consider a Canadian-made alternative, he shook his head.
"They don't make it like they do in Kentucky and Tennessee," he said with a smile. He's tried a few local distilleries but it's not the same.
And although he supports retaliatory measures, he said, realistically, this country is a "little cog in the wheel" compared to the US.
"This will have very little effect. We can try to fight back, but we're small."
What he'd like to see come out of this is the end to provincial trade barriers and perhaps a European-Union-style trade agreement for North America with one currency in play.
He also believes a better option than removing all U.S. liquor from store shelves would be to give Ontario consumers a choice and collect tariffs instead of warehousing bottles.
In the meantime, Bullock said, he'll be measuring out his glasses of bourbon.
A Costco shopper who wasn't comfortable giving his name but was happy to share his opinion on Trump's tariff tirade said prices have already increased at the U.S. retail giant and are particularly noticeable in the meat aisle.
"I'd like someone to explain to me why the pork farmers and the beef farmers complain that they're not going to have any customers in the US.
"So why aren't our prices coming down?," he said, while loading the back of his SUV with groceries. "They've got a surplus. Why are we still paying what we're paying? This is crazy."
The retired auto worker said he's made efforts to buy local, or at least Canadian, since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early '90s. That was about two decades before he lost his job when Lear Corp. moved their Kitchener operations to Mexico.
"People are saying buy local, buy local. But back then, we were the villains," he said, referring to warnings auto sector workers were giving about their jobs heading to Mexico in the wake of NAFTA.
"If I can find something that's Canadian made or produced, I'll buy that."
But at the end of the day, people are going to shop where they can to try and save a buck, he said.
"Some people will always look at the bottom line, but I'll pay a little bit more if it's Canadian made."
"I hope this pissing match is over sooner than later."