14-05-2025
Tariffs signage at Loblaw stores slammed by Canadian shoppers as 'opportunistic'
Loblaws is once again drawing ire from Canadian shoppers who are calling out the grocery giant's decision to mark products affected by the U.S.-Canada tariff wars. The company says the move is meant to bring more clarity to fluctuating pricing, but one expert calls it a puzzling way to address customers' anger at the rising cost of groceries.
In March, Loblaw introduced a 'T' label to inform customers that some products' pricing have been impacted by the ongoing tariff dispute between Canada and the U.S. The T symbol is meant to inform customers when 'a product coming into Canada from the U.S. has had a tariff imposed that impacts its price,' a press release from the company explained at the time.
The symbol appears within a product's electronic price tag, though there is also signage throughout stores informing consumers about the T label. On a post to the Loblaws is Out of Control subreddit, one user expressed their disdain and scepticism behind the company's intention.
"Everything has been jacked up, with very few tariff symbols being used,' user Responsible-Oil3008 wrote on the post titled "Using tariffs to increase price of everything."
'(Loblaws) is clearly opportunistically gouging Canadians under the general guise that we either won't notice or will expect higher prices during this geopolitical climate.'
David Soberman, a marketing professor at Rotman School of Management in Toronto, says the decision to label tariff-impacted products is unlike anything he's seen before.
'In contrast to most signs that are trying to help people find a product that they want because of a positive attribute (like a sale) this is a sign that is supposed to justify or legitimize a negative attribute,' he tells Yahoo Canada.
I'm not sure how easy it is to justify this.
He says Loblaw appears to be playing on people's frustrations in the face of inflation and the current political climate.
Since President Donald Trump started the trade wars earlier this year, Canadians have been trying to navigate where and how tariffs impact their spending habits. While many have committed to boycotting American products, some customers have found it tricky to grasp what's considered to be truly Made in Canada.
Many shoppers are also worried about how the tariff war will hit their pocketbooks. In March, a poll found that almost three-quarters of Canadians felt nervous about personal finances in the face of the trade war with the U.S.
'In this environment there's some prices that may have gone up because of tariffs, and Loblaw's idea is to use that as a way to make sure the anger of an increase of prices is not going towards them but goes towards the tariffs themselves,' Soberman says.
He also notes that the tariffs in question impacting the items were imposed by the Canadian government. On March 4, Canada started imposing tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. imported goods — including orange juice, some types of tea and coffees.
'It's unclear if people are going to say 'OK I'm not going to be angry with Loblaws, I'm going to be angry with Trump,'' he says. 'That doesn't make sense because the tariffs were placed by the Canadian government. It's kind of obscure.'
Soberman can't say for certain whether other grocery stores will follow suit with the T-labels, but he doubts it.
'I'm not sure how easy it is to justify this,' he says.
On a recent trip to two downtown Toronto Loblaws locations, Yahoo Canada could only find a handful of items with the T symbol, mostly in the beverage aisle. These included 1.19-litre bottles of Starbucks vanilla latte for $11.61, 1.75-litre bottles of Pure Leaf iced tea for $7.59, and 1.38-litre bottles of Tropicana Orange Juice for $8.72.
In an email, a representative from Loblaw said the products mentioned have increased specifically due to tariffs and that the company is actively working to reduce the overall impact of tariffs by 'exploring alternative sourcing from other countries engaging with suppliers to help minimize price increases.'
In an online thread about the "T" symbols at Loblaw-owned stores, some Reddit users expressed their frustration with for what they say feels like passing the buck — literally.
'Like they need a reason to screw over customers,' amtron767 wrote. 'Anything they can blame for raising prices they're going to use.'
Others appreciated the labelling.
"(It's) not a bad thing,' user Pristine-March-2839 wrote. 'Now we can make a conscious decision about buying an item or not, and it's undoubtedly better than the misleading label of 'prepared in Canada.''
