Government’s decision to exempt food from new retaliatory tariffs will protect Canadian jobs, food affordability

While Canada still faces significant challenges from U.S. tariffs, the food and beverage industry is overall pleased by the federal government’s decision to exempt food from additional retaliatory tariffs.

This will help the foodservice industry regain some much-needed stability and protect the 1.2 million Canadians it employs amid the current economic uncertainty, said  Restaurants Canada in a media statement.

“We appreciate the federal government’s and Prime Minister Carney’s willingness to listen to us on this issue,” said Kelly Higginson, Restaurants Canada president and CEO. “Our food supply chains are highly integrated, and many food items we import from the U.S. are not available from other sources in the quantities or timeframes required for our industry. As a result, the impact would have been felt entirely on our side of the border.”

Restaurants Canada shared with the federal government a list of 39 priority items, including food, food-safe packaging and cleaning supplies, that are critical for the foodservice industry and can’t be easily procured domestically or from other markets. It is also advocating for the permanent exemption of food and alcohol from GST/HST, a wage subsidy program to prevent job losses, the elimination of interprovincial trade barriers to strengthen the Canadian economy and reduce additional costs and regulations, manufacturing credits to enable food and packaging manufacturers to expand production quickly, and loosening of regulations around packaging requirements from out of country products that may be substitutes for American-made products.

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