May 14 (Reuters) - Canadian retailer Loblaw ( LBLCF )
warned on Wednesday that prices increases will affect more
products as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs put pressure
on supply-chain costs for companies.
As companies in categories such as packaged food and
consumer goods raise prices, Loblaw ( LBLCF ) said in March products
affected by tariffs would be marked with a "T" symbol.
The number of items bearing the "T" symbol is expected to
jump to more than 3,000 in the next few weeks and to exceed
6,000 in the next two months, Loblaw ( LBLCF ) CEO Per Bank said in a
LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
The company's stores collectively carry about 80,000 items,
of which nearly 1,000 are marked with the "T" symbol.
"We will be facing a large wave of tariff-related increases
in the weeks ahead... It's been good to see Prime Minister
(Mark) Carney and other leaders engaging in dialogue with U.S.
officials, as we're all hoping for a rapid de-escalation of this
situation," Bank said.
Loblaw's ( LBLCF ) customers are likely to see greater impact in
categories including natural foods, pantry staples and health &
beauty products, Bank said, adding that consumers are shifting
their purchases away from some U.S.-sourced products.
Canada imposed a range of counter-tariffs on U.S. imports in
response to Trump's 25% tariffs during a trade altercation that
has led to increased unemployment in Canada's export-dependent
economy and sparked fears of a recession.
While Trump announced pauses on reciprocal tariffs for
several countries, signed a limited bilateral trade deal with
the U.K. and temporarily cut tariffs on China, there has been
little respite from the levies imposed on Canada.