Survey: Canadian, Latin American consumers plan to buy fewer U.S. grocery products
President Trump’s tariff initiatives are having an impact on how consumers outside of the United States intend to shop this year amid rising "buying from home" sentiment.
That's according to Dunnhumby’s latest Consumer Trends Tracker survey, which reveals that 71% of Canadian and 43% of Mexican consumers report they will buy fewer U.S. grocery products in 2025.
The quarterly study also found that 84% of Canadians, 79% of Brazilians, 78% of Chileans, 77% of Mexicans and 76% of Colombians cited the tariffs imposed by the U.S. as the most important factor of why they intend to buy fewer grocery products from the U.S.
According to the USDA, the U.S. exported 33% of its agricultural products to Canada and Mexico in 2024, totaling over $58 billion out of $176 billion of total U.S. agricultural exports. Imports from these countries were 42%, amounting to $90 billion out of $213 billion in total U.S. agricultural imports.
[READ MORE: Trump pauses most China tariffs for 90 days]
Nearly a quarter of Canadians and Latin Americans who are buying less from the U.S. this year also said that this would become permanent behavior in the future. For Canada, this equates to $15 to $20 billion of annual grocery purchasing power.
“Canadians and Latin Americans are shifting their shopping behavior to spend their money where their values align,” said Matt O’Grady, president of the Americas at Dunnhumby. “That has implications for all brands and retailers as they need to truly understand their customers to make sure they are living up to the standards expected of them.”
U.S. retail mass and chain stores in Canada had, on average, a 3% drop in sales penetration compared to the ninth wave of this study in December 2024. This drop reflects a loss of approximately 500,000 Canadian households. Dunnhumby found that national Canadian chains in discount and mass formats gained 3% during this period.
Dunnhumby’s latest survey found that American shoppers showed little interest in retaliating against tariffs levied by countries in response to U.S. tariffs. Instead, 21% of U.S. consumers plan to reduce their purchases from China, although the U.S. imports less than 5% of its food supply from China
“Buying from home” sentiment is up in most countries, but least of all in the U.S. Sixty-three percent of Canadians, 60% of Brazilians, 59% of Colombians, 54% of Mexicans and 44% of Chileans said they intend to buy more from their own countries. Only 30% of Americans agreed with buying more from their own country.
Channel penetration of discount and dollar channels shifted the most for Canadians (up 3% to 75%) and for U.S. (up 4% to 57%) consumers in this wave. Dunnhumby says U.S. shoppers are more likely exploring discount and dollar stores due to concerns about finances, but significant sales shifts to these channels have not occurred yet.
“Although consumers, retailers, and brands are navigating uncertain times, there are concrete steps all can take in the midst of this disruption,” added O’Grady. “For consumers that may mean rapidly changing their behaviors so they protect their wallets, but for retailers and brands it means they should be turning to data insights to determine which strategic actions they need to take to stay ahead.”
Methodology
Dunnhumby interviewed 8,500 grocery shoppers across Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and the U.S. for its latest Consumer Trends Tracker. The online interviews for Wave 10 took place in April 2025. Approximately 1,000 to 2,000 individuals were interviewed in each of the six countries for the current wave of the study.
