Shopify debuted new “buy local features” in its Shop app, following CEO Tobi Lütke's criticisms of the US and Canadian governments' decisions to impose tariffs on each other's imports.
Quick Backstory: After President Trump announced a 25% tariff on Canadian goods and 10% on energy exports, Prime Minister Trudeau hit back with levies on $155B worth of US imports. At the time, Lütke called both sets of tariffs the wrong choice, and argued that Canada should have de-escalated instead.
Lütke wrote on X:
“Trump believes that Canada has not held its side of the bargain, and he set terms to prove that we still work together: get the borders under control and crack down on fentanyl dens. These are things that every Canadian wants its government to do, too. These are not crazy demands, even if they came from an unpopular source.”
However regardless of Lütke's personal feelings, the tariffs prompted nationwide calls to support and buy Canadian goods, with folks on social media asking Shopify to introduce buy local features.
Back to the Shop app updates: In response to the calls to buy local in Canada, Shopify introduced a new “Sells from Canada” filter within the Shop app that allows users to exclusively view products that are shipped from sellers located in Canada. Shop app users in the country subsequently received a push notification encouraging them to “easily find your favorite Canadian brands.”
Shopify said that the feature would be rolling out in Canada, the United States, and Mexico to start.
Later that week, Shopify published a blog post entitled Open trade, open for business defending de minimis and championing for open trade. The post wrote:
“Reforms should carefully target exploitation by some that exploit the de minimis exemption to flood the market with cheap products. Addressing this abuse is justified, but small businesses can’t become collateral damage.”
The post went on to share that Shopify merchants can now display and collect duties during checkout, with plans to release new updates aimed at simplifying the handling of international sales in the near future.
In other news surrounding the buy local initiative… Canadian tech leaders have initiated “Build Canada,” a project aimed at influencing policy to foster a more prosperous economy and address frustrations with the nation's stagnant innovation agenda. Launched by a core team including former Shopify VP Daniel Debow, the initiative plans to publish weekly policy memos to provide Canadian entrepreneurs with a platform to share impactful ideas.