A mark of pickle intended exclusively for the Canadian market is not found in many grocery stores in the country, a sad consequence of the trade war between Canada and the United States.
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“Bick’s pickles are currently unavailable due to the regrettable repercussions of customs tariffs,” read a small poster under an empty tablet in an Edmonton business.
In an interview with CBC, the CEO of the company who owns Bicks, Treehouse Foods Inc., Steve Oakland, deplored that the popular Cornichon brand “finds itself involved in the pricing conflict”.
After the taxation of customs duties on Canadian products in March, the federal government retaliated by imposing a long list of counter-tale, one of 25% on “cucumbers and pickles”.
“I believe that many retailers believe that customs duties of 25% simply make them too expensive,” said Oakland.
According to him, Bick’s pickles still remain available in around 70% of grocery stores in Canada. Oakland told CBC that he had tried to try to overthrow the counter-tale, from the Canadian government and the Governor of Illinois.
In the past, Bick’s was a Canadian company, but it was eventually acquired by an American company, and the production of pickles moved to the south of the border in 2014.
According to CBC information, the company has continued to use Canadian cucumbers for its production, and it buys 11 million pounds of Ontario cucumber each year. The lids are also manufactured in this province.