Canadian Ice Cream Brand Ditches Most US Ingredients Amid Trump's Trade War, Vows Not to Raise Prices

Chapman's Ice Cream has spent about 18 months reshaping how it buys. The Ontario company expects to have swapped out over 70 per cent of the American ingredients and parts it uses by the middle of 2027. It will not raise prices until March 2028. The work began when tariffs were announced in March 2025.

A tariff is collected from the importer at the border, not from the country selling the goods. So when Ottawa puts a duty on an affected US product, the Canadian buyer pays it. Chapman's buys a great many such items, from cones to almonds. Canadian counter-tariffs pushed up the cost of some of them.

Who pays matters here. Donald Trump's tariffs apply to Canadian goods heading south. They do not fall directly on a company that sells ice cream only in Canada. Ottawa's counter-tariffs are what reach the freezer aisle. Chapman's started looking for new suppliers in March 2025, the month the first round was announced.

Chief operating officer Ashley Chapman told CBC the company promised to hold prices and start hunting for suppliers at once. 'We have not been sitting idle,' he said. Chapman's has been based in Markdale, Ontario, since 1973. The company says every product containing milk uses 100 per cent Canadian dairy.

Canada Had No Industrial Sugar Cone Producer

Cones were among the hardest things to replace. Canada had no industrial sugar-cone producers at all, according to Chapman, and the company had bought them from the United States for years. So Chapman's partnered with Original Foods of Dunnville, Ontario, which brought in a cone oven and will make the cones. Chapman said the move will make his firm the only Canadian ice cream maker with a fully Canadian sugar-cone line, from the flour in the cone to the finished product.

Wafers for its ice cream sandwiches are moving to Canadian production too. Where no Canadian supplier could be found, Chapman's looked further afield. Almonds are shipped in from Australia now, and the cherries come from Chile, both much further from Markdale than the American firms they replaced. Some new suppliers have proved cheaper, while others have added cost. Chapman's says the changes together will not push up the price of a tub.

Some Changes Turned Out Cheaper

Several of the switches saved money, which the company had not expected. Chapman said tariffs altered what Canadian makers were willing to produce. Firms that had turned down the same work before began to look at it again. That cuts against most of what is usually said about bringing production home.

The Tariffs Behind the Switch

Trade relations have worsened since. Washington put 50 per cent tariffs on about US$20 billion (£14.7 billion) of Canadian goods at 12:01 a.m. on 22 August 2026. Talks between the two governments had collapsed hours earlier, and no replacement date has been set. Hockey sticks, building materials, liquor, and some clothing are all caught by the measure.

The tariffs cover roughly 5 per cent of what Canada sells into the United States each year. Most Canadian exports are outside this particular round of tariffs. Trump used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose them. The provision allows additional duties of up to 50 per cent when its statutory conditions are met.

Prime Minister Mark Carney called the move a miscalculation and promised to match it dollar for dollar to protect Canadian workers and businesses. 'You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,' he said. Canada's own counter-tariffs take effect at 12:01 a.m. on 8 September.

The result is what counts. A mid-sized maker spent 18 months rebuilding how it buys, brought some production home, and found cheaper options where it had never looked. Customers have been promised no price rise until March 2028. The test now is whether that promise can survive a trade war with no clear end in sight.