Tariffs could cause cost of canned goods to rise by up to 40 cents a can, food processor warns

The CEO of Sun-Brite Foods Inc. says the steel and aluminum tariffs could raise the prices of their canned food products between 25 to 40 cents per can.

One major food processor in Ontario warns the cost of their canned goods could go up to as high as an additional 40 cents per can due to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.

Sun-Brite Foods Inc., located near Leamington, Ont., is the Canadian-owned and operated producer of brands like Unico and Primo. It is one of the largest processors of tomatoes worldwide and to ship all those tomatoes to market, the company’s CEO says they require a lot of cans manufactured by the U.S.

On March 12, Canada laid down dollar-for-dollar tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on the products.

“We buy the equivalent of about 200 million cans annually and it works out to about US$40 million,” John Iacobelli, CEO of Sun-Brite Foods Inc, tells CTV News.

According to Iacobelli, the company could pay an additional CA$15 million due to the 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on steel and aluminum imports. He says their canned food products could subsequently see an increase of 25 cents to 40 cents per can.

“All the canned products will be facing the same and it’s unnecessary,” said Iacobelli.

According to Sylvain Charlebois, a food researcher with Dalhousie University, the Canadian government must be careful applying reciprocal tariffs because the levies will drive up the costs of groceries and create food inflation.

“The only way out of it is to increase prices and that’s going to impact consumers,” said Charlebois.

He also said most companies that make canned goods will need to pass on the price hikes to consumers.

“If you’re buying something in a can, you’re buying something from a company that is managing on incredibly thin margins and so these tariffs are killers,” said Charlebois.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are under review. Sun-Brite said it wants the 25 per cent counter-tariffs scrapped, saying that outside of higher grocery prices, it could possibly lead to job losses.

“The last thing we want to do is have unnecessary inflation because of the tariffs, and that’s what we have happening right now,” said Iacobelli.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he “authorized” a 90-day pause on the 10 per cent baseline reciprocal tariffs he is slamming dozens of countries with—though the White House confirmed Canada is exempt.

That said, the levies on steel and aluminum remain in place, as well as the 25 per cent tariffs on all products that are not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement.