Last orders? Canada is stripping U.S. liquor products from its shelves.
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Some of America’s most iconic liquor brands are set to be removed from Canadian stores tomorrow as the first salvoes are fired in a divisive tit-for-tat round of trade restrictions focused on alcohol sales.
Canada’s two biggest provinces have said that they will remove U.S. products from government-run liquor stores in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, along with the same tariff levels for imported Mexican goods.
Retail outlets of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario will take U.S. products off shelves tomorrow, the day the U.S. tariffs announced by President Trump over the weekend go into effect, Premier Doug Ford said Sunday.
“As part of Ontario’s response strategy to the imposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, the government of Ontario has directed (the) LCBO to indefinitely stop all sales of U.S. alcohol products in our stores and online and to stop wholesale sales of U.S. products to restaurants, bars, grocery and other retailers no later than Feb. 4, 2025,” a spokesperson from the LCBO confirmed to national broadcaster CTV News.
The Crown agency said that it sells up to $965 million worth of American alcohol annually, with more than 3,600 U.S. products available for Canadian consumers, and it promised that more information will be made available to local customers and suppliers.
“Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, sprits and seltzers. Not anymore,” Ford said in a social media post on X.
Canadian restaurant and hotel organizations and craft beer makers rallied behind the decision, urging Canadian consumers and businesses to buy home-grown alcoholic beverages.
The provinces of British Columbia and Nova Scotia also moved to pull American liquor from provincially-owned stores. Additionally, B.C. Premier David Eby specifically directed BC Liquor stores to “immediately stop buying American liquor from red states.”
Not The First Time Liquor Hit With Canadian Tariffs
We’ve been here before. Kentucky-style whiskey was among the products that Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs during the first Trump administration.
However, Chris Swonger, president of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, responded by saying that the latest round of retaliatory measures were “extremely disappointing and counterproductive,” urging the two North American neighbors to reach an agreement.
Then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger toasts with California wine at an LCBO store in … [+] Toronto as part of a three-day trade mission in 2007. GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, National Retail Federation Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French responded over the wider implications of the Trump administration’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 10% tariffs on China.
“We support the Trump administration’s goal of strengthening trade relationships and creating fair and favorable terms for America,” he said. “But imposing steep tariffs on three of our closest trading partners is a serious step. We strongly encourage all parties to continue negotiating to find solutions that will strengthen trade relationships and avoid shifting the costs of shared policy failures onto the backs of American families, workers and small businesses.
“The retail industry is committed to working with President Trump and his administration to achieve his campaign promises, including strengthening the U.S. economy, extending his successful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and ensuring that American families are protected from higher costs.”
Source link : https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfaithfull/2025/02/03/canada-strips-shelves-of-us-liquor-first-casualty-of-tariff-wars/
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Publish date : 2025-02-03 02:18:00
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