Day: September 27, 2026

The latest US-Canada trade tensions are hitting an unlikely corner of the food market: whey protein.

The US is set to prohibit imports of several Canadian dairy products, including certain whey products, from 29 September. The move follows Washington’s decision to impose additional duties on Canadian dairy products, while Canada has responded with its own tariffs on US goods.

The Canadian government has listed whey protein concentrate and several forms of powdered whey among products facing a 50% counter-tariff on US imports.

For businesses that rely heavily on the ingredient, the disruption is already being felt.

Jim McMahon, chief executive of British Columbia-based Fit Foods LP, told CNN that his company depends on US suppliers because the highly processed whey it uses is in limited supply in Canada.

“If there’s no tariff relief, it’s devastating for consumers, retailers and us,” McMahon said, according to CNN.

Canadian farmers produce whey, but the country has significantly less cheese production than the US and fewer facilities capable of processing whey into the concentrated forms required by protein manufacturers. That makes switching suppliers difficult.

Companies could theoretically turn to alternatives such as pea protein, which is not subject to the same tariffs. But changing an established product is far more complicated than swapping one ingredient for another.

Manufacturers may have to reformulate recipes, adjust production processes and rebuild parts of their supply chains.

Aaron Skelton, President, Canadian Health Food Association, told CNN that businesses were already struggling to identify alternatives. “Economic tools can be turned on and off fairly quickly. Supply chains can’t,” he said.

According to USDA data cited by CNN, US whey protein concentrate prices reached a record $13 per pound in June, about 250% higher than a year earlier. Prices later eased to around $10-$11 per pound, but manufacturers have warned that consumers have not yet absorbed the full effect of those increases.

That could mean higher prices for protein powders and ready-to-eat products containing whey in the months ahead.

The impact will not necessarily be identical across the two countries. Canadian manufacturers face particularly acute supply concerns because they rely on US whey, while American consumers could see higher prices as the broader disruption works its way through the market.

The latest measures are part of a much wider deterioration in trade between the two neighbours. The US announced a ban on selected Canadian dairy products, alcohol and motorcycles from 29 September, while Canada introduced retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20 billion of US goods earlier this month.

For the fitness industry, however, the trade dispute has brought a surprisingly simple concern into focus: keeping protein on the shelves without making it significantly more expensive.