Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - There's another product you can add to the list of items affected by tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and it's probably in your refrigerator: Mustard.
Weber's Mustard is made locally in South Buffalo, and it has been around for over 100 years. Their signature horseradish mustard is the No. 1 selling mustard in Buffalo, and it is in thousands of made-in Buffalo gift baskets that are shipped around the world every year.
Weber's gets all of its mustard seed from Canada, and is now subject to a 25% tariff from the Trump administration.
"If you think about it, there's a hell of a lot of mustard seed that goes into a pound of mustard," said owner Steve Desmond during an appearance with WBEN on Thursday.
Desmond says this is actually the second big hit for the company, with the first coming in 2022 that they're still suffering from.
"I received an email in June of that year that the price of mustard seed was going up 43% due to a shortage of mustard seed farmers in Canada, because of COVID. And now," Desmond sighed, "they're throwing this at us!"
Back then, Desmond said the price jumped overnight from $3 to $4.49 a jar. Now, with the new tariff, he speculated that prices could go above $5 a jar.
60% of the world's mustard seed comes from Canada. The remaining comes from Nepal and Russia. It is not produced in the U.S.
Could another increase in the price of mustard cause consumers to pull back? That's Desmond's biggest fear.
"Since 2022, worldwide mustard consumption has dropped 13%. It's the seventh-ranked condiment in the world. We're all talking about eggs right now, but unlike eggs, mustard is considered a luxury," he said. "Thank God we live in Buffalo, because people support regional companies so well. We do flourish and have a strong standing here in Western New York."
