2025-03-11T16:25:05Z Read in app Graffiti calling for a boycott of American wine at a liquor store in Montreal, Canada. ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? The 'Buy Canadian' movement is growing in the face of US-Canada tensions over tariffs.The owner of the online directory 'Made in CA' says traffic has surged in recent weeks.He says it's driven by patriotism and anger over Trump's economic moves and rhetoric.Dylan Lobo, a digital media consultant who runs the website Made in CA, says he's seen an unprecedented surge in traffic to his directory of Canadian-made goods in recent weeks."There's a lot of patriotism right now in this country," Lobo told Business Insider. "There's a huge sense that Canadians want to support other Canadians."Many in Canada are responding to the threats of US tariffs as well as President Donald Trump's talks of Canada becoming the "51st state" by increasingly seeking out domestically made goods.Lobo said traffic to the directory, which was founded in 2018 during Trump's first term in office, has risen steadily since January, with sharp spikes whenever Trump criticizes Canada or when tariffs make headlines.Trump floated tariffs on imports from Canada during his 2024 presidential campaign, but interest in Made in CA didn't spike until his inauguration approached. Lobo said that's when many Canadians started to realize that tariffs could become a reality."Between January 1 and January 20, traffic almost tripled daily, and on January 21, the day after the inauguration, it tripled again," he said.Lobo added that the biggest surge came on February 1, when Trump signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods. "This was our biggest traffic spike we hit 100,000-plus readers in a single day."Google Trends data shows that searches for "Made in Canada" in February reached their highest levels on record, with March following closely behind.A sharp spike occurred the week of February 2, right after Trump signed his tariff executive orders.Similarly, searches for "Buy Canadian" peaked that week, reaching their highest level in over five years, with February recording the most searches for the term in nearly a decade.Tariffs, tariffs everywhereWhen Trump's tariffs initially took effect on March 4, Canada responded with its own retaliatory moves on US goods. That same day, Made in CA saw another surge in traffic Lobo said it quadrupled.Then, on March 6, Trump announced a temporary delay on tariffs for USMCA-compliant goods from Canada. But a day later, he escalated his threats, saying he would impose reciprocal tariffs as high as 250% on Canadian dairy and lumber.Meanwhile, on Monday, Ontario province slapped a 25% tax on electricity exports to three US states. Trump responded in a Truth Social post in which he threatened to impose an additional 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the US from Canada, bringing the tariff rate on those imports to 50%.Trump said those tariffs will go into effect on March 12.The 'Buy Canadian' movement is picking upCanadian businesses have also been hitting back. Some small businesses have been boycotting US products. Last week, Ontario and New Brunswick instructed provincially owned alcohol retailers to remove US-made alcohol from store shelves."Buy Canadian instead" signs are now on display in some liquor stores."The 'Buy Canadian' movement has grown quickly," Lobo said, adding, "What's been most meaningful is that we've retained a larger, more engaged audience thousands of Canadians who are committed to supporting Canadian-made products."And it isn't just site visits that have skyrocketed submissions have flooded in, too, he said.Canadians can submit products to the online directory in two ways: by recommending Canadian-made items they find in stores or by submitting their own businesses for review."We received thousands of submissions, over 4,000 in just a few days, and hundreds of emails from Canadians eager to support local businesses," Lobo told BI, adding that he's still working through the backlog, personally reviewing, editing, and publishing each listing.Even so, he said he receives emails every day from panicked Canadian consumers and business owners, asking what they can do."I say the easiest thing to do is just buy a Canadian product," he told BI. "You might spend a little bit more, but at least you're helping a small business with Canadian workers."