The Buy Canadian Field Guide
The Buy Canadian Field Guide. Free. No email, no signup. Print it, screenshot it, share it. For 35 everyday products it tells you which US state supplies most of what Canada buys — and exactly who represents that state in the Senate. Built from the United States' own customs records, not from anyone's brand list.
First: what actually works, ranked
Ranked by how much each action moves, per dollar it costs you. The Bank of Canada found Canadians cut trips to the US by 25% — about 10 million fewer — but shifted grocery spending only about 2 percentage points, with no comparable movement anywhere else.
| # | Action | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cancel an American subscription you don't use | You save money. Close to 100% of the dollar leaves Canada, every month, and it shows up in the company's shareholder reporting. |
| 2 | Travel in Canada instead of the US | Neutral — the one action Canadians already proved works at scale. |
| 3 | Move a paid software tool to a Canadian vendor | Often nothing. A recurring business expense, fully redirected. |
| 4 | Buy Canadian groceries where a real substitute exists | A little more. Most of a shelf price is Canadian wages and rent either way. |
| 5 | Pay a large premium for an imported product | The most. Smallest national effect for the largest personal cost. |
What the label legally means
| Claim | What it legally requires |
|---|---|
| "Product of Canada" | At least 98% of total direct production costs incurred in Canada, and the last substantial transformation here. |
| "Made in Canada" | At least 51%, last substantial transformation here, plus a qualifying statement such as "with imported parts." |
So "Made in Canada" can legally be 49% imported. That is the published rule, not a loophole. Competition Bureau of Canada, modified 14 June 2026. Food labelling is regulated separately by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The map: which state, and who represents them
"Share of US supply" means: of everything the United States ships to Canada in that product, this is how much leaves from that one state. It tells you where the economic weight sits if you decline it.
Read this honestly. These are supply concentrations, not brand accusations. Country-of-origin labelling tells you the country, never the state. Use this to understand where weight sits — not to accuse any company.
Correction, 27 August 2026. An earlier version of this guide labelled each tariff code after the first product line beneath it. That mislabelled every code covering more than one good — “bourbon” for a code that covers all whiskies, “Brazil nuts” for one covering all prepared nuts, and “organic” variants that do not exist at this level of the tariff at all. Every label below has been rebuilt from the common content of all lines beneath each code. If you printed an earlier copy, please replace it.
Food & drink
| If you decline this | State | Share of US supply | Its two senators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live lobster | ME | 90% | Susan M. Collins (R); Angus S. King, Jr. (I) |
| Fresh boneless beef and bison | CO | 43% | Michael F. Bennet (D); John W. Hickenlooper (D) |
| Fresh chicken and chicken offal | GA | 24% | Jon Ossoff (D); Raphael G. Warnock (D) |
| Processed pork (fresh/chilled) | CO | 34% | Michael F. Bennet (D); John W. Hickenlooper (D) |
| Sausages and similar products | WI | 27% | Tammy Baldwin (D); Ron Johnson (R) |
| Fresh strawberries | CA | 70% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Fresh grapes | CA | 65% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Fresh raspberries, blackberries and similar berries | CA | 52% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Fresh apples | WA | 74% | Maria Cantwell (D); Patty Murray (D) |
| Fresh tomatoes | TX | 27% | John Cornyn (R); Ted Cruz (R) |
| Fresh peppers | AZ | 27% | Ruben Gallego (D); Mark Kelly (D) |
| Packaged cut salad mixes | CA | 39% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Baked goods — pastry, cake, biscuits, puddings | IL | 12% | Richard J. Durbin (D); Tammy Duckworth (D) |
| Puffed and roasted cereal products | MI | 13% | Gary C. Peters (D); Elissa Slotkin (D) |
| Mayonnaise, salad dressings, condiments and sauces | CA | 16% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Peanut butter and prepared peanuts | NC | 38% | Thom Tillis (R); Ted Budd (R) |
| Dried soups, broths and preparations | OH | 42% | Bernie Moreno (R); Jon Husted (R) |
| Sugar confectionery without cocoa | IL | 17% | Richard J. Durbin (D); Tammy Duckworth (D) |
| Chocolate and cocoa preparations | PA | 34% | John Fetterman (D); David McCormick (R) |
| Carbonated soft drinks and mineral water | AZ | 28% | Ruben Gallego (D); Mark Kelly (D) |
| Non-alcoholic drinks — milk-based and fortified juices | OH | 17% | Bernie Moreno (R); Jon Husted (R) |
| Whisky — all types, including bourbon and rye | KY | 59% | Mitch McConnell (R); Rand Paul (R) |
| Mixes and doughs for cookies, waffles and wafers | TN | 18% | Marsha Blackburn (R); Bill Hagerty (R) |
| Prepared nuts — cashews, almonds, pistachios, Brazil nuts and mixes | CA | 41% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
Household & personal
| If you decline this | State | Share of US supply | Its two senators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diapers, sanitary pads, tampons and liners | WI | 33% | Tammy Baldwin (D); Ron Johnson (R) |
| Liquid and cream soap for skin, retail | OH | 16% | Bernie Moreno (R); Jon Husted (R) |
| Bar soap for toilet use | IN | 34% | Todd Young (R); Jim Banks (R) |
| Shampoo | WV | 15% | Shelley Moore Capito (R); James C. Justice (R) |
| Hair preparations | CA | 12% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Perfume and toilet water | NY | 25% | Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D); Charles E. Schumer (D) |
| Detergents, washing and cleaning preparations | IL | 14% | Richard J. Durbin (D); Tammy Duckworth (D) |
| Toothbrushes | IA | 42% | Chuck Grassley (R); Joni Ernst (R) |
| Metal furniture, household and counters | IL | 7% | Richard J. Durbin (D); Tammy Duckworth (D) |
| Wooden furniture | CA | 4% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| LED chandeliers and ceiling/wall lights | CA | 17% | Adam B. Schiff (D); Alex Padilla (D) |
| Wheeled toys, dolls, scale models and other toys | TX | 26% | John Cornyn (R); Ted Cruz (R) |
Three swaps that don't do what people think
| Swap | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| SkipTheDishes | Winnipeg-founded, but sold to Britain's Just Eat and merged into a Dutch company. Switching from an American delivery app does not repatriate the money. |
| Spotify | Swedish. Cancelling it does not touch the United States. |
| DuckDuckGo | The privacy alternative is American — Paoli, Pennsylvania. |
Sources. Product and state figures: US Census Bureau, State Exports HS6 (Origin of Movement), calendar year 2025 — 1,309,098 records parsed directly; the Canada-bound total validates at $333,619,712,376 against the US Trade Representative's published $333.6 billion. Product names from the official US Schedule B code list. Senators from the current Congressional roster. Behaviour data: Bank of Canada, Bilyk & Dolinar, Assessing the Buy Canadian movement one year later, February 2026. Trade balances: US Trade Representative, 2025. Label rules: Competition Bureau of Canada, modified 14 June 2026.
This guide is free to copy, print, and share. Published by Zeus eBikes Canada, a Canadian retailer — which sells things, and says so. We rank our own offer fifth of five in the full report — the costliest action with the smallest national effect.