Premier of Ontario Doug Ford calls out Campbell’s Soup for trying to fool Canadian consumers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has lashed out at The Campbell’s Company (previously known as the Campbell Soup Company) for trying to trick Canadian consumers into believing they are buying national products.

The dispute comes as the fallout over tariffs imposed on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump continues.

The United States’ Canadian tariffs

On August 1, a tariff rate of 35%, up from 25%, came into effect, although approximately 95% of Canadian products are exempt under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which means the impact should be relatively small.

That, however, didn’t deter Ford from laying into Campbell’s, which is actually an American company. However, it does have a Canadian subsidiary, Campbell Company of Canada, and previously had Canadian manufacturing plants, the last of which closed in 2018.

Campbell’s causes Canadian controversy with flags

In February this year, seven years after it moved all of its production to the United States, Campbell’s began printing Canadian flags on its soup cans, an apparent ploy to take advantage of the growing “buy Canadian” movement in Canada.

Ford, though, called them out on it in a recent media appearance.

“Campbell’s Soup is putting a Canadian flag on their cans. They closed their plants here. They moved everything down to the U.S.. And they put ‘recipe made in Canada.’ What sort of nonsense is that?”

Doug Ford sends clear messages to Canadians, Campbell’s and Trump

The Ontario Premier had a clear message for his compatriots, as well as the company itself. “Don’t let them hoodwink you. It’s unacceptable that they do that. Don’t try to pull one over people’s eyes. Canadians are too smart for that. Please, when you go shopping, and I know it’s not always possible, buy Canadian as much as you can.”

Ford’s final comment, seemingly directed at Trump, made it clear that he sees the ongoing tariff-related friction between his country and the U.S. as part of a trade war. “We’re going to win this thing, one way or another. We aren’t going to go down, and we aren’t going to roll over. We’ll keep fighting every single day.”

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