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How Might Aldi Be Affected by New U.S. Tariffs?

ByJoshua Last Updated on
A picture of a cargo ship.
Image by hectorgalarza from Pixabay

EDITOR’S NOTE: We are aware that this post deals with a sensitive issue where people may have strong opinions. Like all posts on Aldi Reviewer, we reserve the right to moderate comments in accordance with our Community Guidelines.

In late January of 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was imposing new tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, and 10% on China. While the tariffs were originally scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday, February 4, they were delayed until March 4. At the time of this post, the tariffs are now in force, although the situation is fluid and could evolve over time.

What is a tariff? A tariff is defined as a tax on imports. When a country imposes a tariff, it is attaching an extra tax to those products coming into the country. Countries impose tariffs for a lot of reasons, including getting people inside the country buy more of that country’s products.

Tariffs can have a number of possible side-effects. One of those is that products from outside the country will likely cost more, as the companies often pass along the increased costs to consumers. It can also trigger retaliatory tariffs: if Country A imposes tariffs on Country B, Country B may respond by imposing similar tariffs on Country A.

Aldi and other grocery stores do get some of their products from the affected countries. Those products — both food and non-food products — might be directly imported from the countries. Or they might be packaged in another country and then shipped here.

For that reason, shoppers may wonder what impact these tariffs might have on the German grocer. To that end, we took an informal stock of Aldi food and household products we currently have in our own house that are from one of the potentially affected countries.

* This is not a comprehensive list of all food or non-food products Aldi sells from these countries.

In the Pantry:

  • Simply Nature Organic Graintastic Bread (Canada)
  • Dakota’s Pride Green Lentils (Canada)
  • Simply Nature 100% Pure Avocado Oil (Mexico, U.S., or Spain)
  • Carlini Original Canola Oil Spray (Mexico)
  • Simply Nature Organic Coconut Chia Granola Cereal (Canada)
  • Millville Quick Cook Rolled Oats (Canada and U.S.)
  • Millville Quick Steel Cut Oats (Canada and U.S.)
  • Millville Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (Canada)
  • Casa Mamita Crunchy Taco Shells (Mexico)
  • Simply Nature Freeze Dried Strawberries (Chile, Egypt, Morocco, U.S., Mexico, Poland, China)
  • Simply Nature Chia Seeds (Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Nicaragua, Uganda)
  • Earthly Grains 90 Second Riced Cauliflower (Mexico)
  • Southern Grove Roasted Pepitas (China)
  • Chef’s Cupboard Hawaiian Stuffing Mix (Canada)
  • Simply Nature Organic Free Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth (Canada)
  • Simply Nature Organic Vegetable Broth (Canada)
  • Stonemill Chili Powder (China)
  • Stonemill Ground Cinnamon (China)
  • Stonemill Garlic Powder (China)
  • Stonemill Oregano (China)
  • Stonemill Minced Onion (China)

In the Refrigerator:

Fresh Produce:

  • Berries Paradise Fresh Jumbo Blueberries (Mexico)
  • Calavo Calavo’tini Little Bitty Hass Avocados (Mexico)
  • Nature Sweet Beefsteak Tomatoes (Mexico)

In the Deep Freezer:

Household Items:

Our Thoughts:

What does this all mean?

It’s hard to say. Aldi does sell a good number of products from countries that could be subject to new tariffs. Those goods could go up in price unless Aldi finds suppliers from places not affected by these tariffs.

And, of course, the tariff situation could itself change.

Given the uncertainty of the situation, we’re hesitant to rush to too many judgements. Suffice to say that we — like many shoppers — will be watching this situation with great care over the months to come.

Joshua is the Co-founder of Aldi Reviewer. He is also a writer and novelist. You can learn more about him at joshuaajohnston.com.

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4 Comments

  1. I wonder if this could be the cause of product shortages? Olive oil for example, I was able to get organic but not regular. The regular has been missing for a couple of weeks.

    Reply

    1. Good question. Given how recently the tariffs went into effect, I think any current product shortages are probably due to other factors. Temporary shortages of random products have been a thing at Aldi going back at least several years, likely due to supplier issues, problems with shipping or the supply chain, or other unknown reasons.

      Reply

  2. Thank you so much for this article and the list of products that may be affected by tariffs. I never realized how many products I buy at Aldi’s come from Canada. I plan on stocking up now before prices go up.

    Reply

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