Ontario, Quebec and B.C. among provinces pulling U.S. booze from provincial retailers

A sign is placed in front of the American whiskey section at a B.C. liquor store after top selling American made products have been removed from shelves in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Canadian alcohol producers are cheering decisions from several provinces to yank U.S. booze from provincial liquor stores.

They say the move will deliver a boost to homegrown business while adding ammunition to a federal plan aimed at getting the U.S. to back down from tariffs.

"No doubt, it's a big opportunity ... to showcase true nationalism, and it's supporting Canadian jobs, local manufacturing," said Bromlyn Bethune, the president of Toronto-based Steam Whistle Brewing.

Her comments came on the heels of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's Sunday announcement revealing that he would take aim at the nearly $1 billion worth of U.S. wine, beer, spirits and seltzers sold in the LCBO every year.

The more than 3,600 products from 35 U.S. states are due to leave the liquor store on Tuesday, when U.S. President Donald Trump's promised tariffs on Canadian goods come into effect.

"There’s never been a better time to choose an amazing Ontario-made or Canadian-made product," Ford said in a statement.

British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador all made the same move as Ford over the weekend.

Some shelves at B.C. government liquor stores were empty Sunday, with signs urging customers to buy Canadian products instead.

"This is a question about national identity. This is a question about who we are as Canadians and Manitobans," Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said at a press conference Sunday.

"If you have to switch to Crown Royal as part of that patriotism, I think that's a pretty good deal."

The moves position alcohol as a key battleground in the trade feud that intensified Saturday when Trump signed an executive order applying 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods starting Tuesday. He carved out an exception for Canadian energy, which will see a lower 10 per cent duty.

Trump has framed the tariffs as his way of tackling his concerns about security at American borders, including the flow of fentanyl.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show less than one per cent of all fentanyl seized comes from the northern border.

Canada fired back against Trump's assertions and the tariffs with its own retaliatory package announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday night.

The package begins with Canada targeting $30 billion in U.S goods on Tuesday, followed by $125 billion in duties on American products in 21 days.

The list of goods making up the package includes beer made from malt, many wines produced with fresh grapes and vermouth, along with whiskies, tequilas, vodkas, gins and rums.

Michelle Wasylyshen, president and CEO of Ontario Craft Wineries, said she saw Ford's move as a particularly helpful way to ensure Canada's retaliatory measures pack a punch.

Canada does not export any significant amount of wine into the U.S., but Canada is the largest market for American wine, she said.

"Mr. Trump can't hurt the Canadian wine industry in the same way that Canada can hurt the U.S. wine industry," she said.

"From a trade perspective, there really is an imbalance and it hurts them more than it hurts us when we remove their products."

Yet Bill Redelmeier, owner of Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., pointed out Canadian alcohol purveyors won't go completely unscathed, even if many don't count on the U.S. for a significant portion of their business.

"Bottles are mostly imported, and a large portion come from the U.S." he said in an email.

"The last major Canadian bottle maker closed down just before COVID, so I am not sure what the outcome will be."

Scott Simmons, president of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, similarly said the tariffs will be detrimental to Ontario's craft beer industry and will drive up packaging costs, particularly for beer sold in aluminum cans. But like Wasylyshen, Simmons said in a statement he supports the Ontario premier's move to pull American goods from the LCBO.

It is not the first time Canada has used alcohol to make a point with the U.S.

When Trump was last president, he imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.

Canada retaliated with 10 per cent duties on its own basket of goods, including American whiskies and bourbon.

Wasylyshen and Simmons both hope pulling U.S. drinks from shelves in conjunction with tariffs this time will prompt Canadians to support homegrown businesses.

"It's a stressful time for many companies, I understand that, but for us, it's definitely an opportunity and we're looking forward to taking advantage of it," Wasylyshen said.

Simmons also called on the LCBO to use the removal of American products as an avenue to better support local products, saying the positive impact of the move would be "massive" for Ontario brewers.

The timing couldn't be better, added Steam Whistle's Bethune.

The winter is generally a slower time of year for the beer industry, which spends the period preparing for the busy spring and summer season, as well as coping with lower sales from people who abstain from alcohol for Dry January.

"Now our part-time packaging team, our brewers, are probably going to be busier than they typically are in February," Bethune said.

If the trade feud persists for many months and convinces people to make local beer a bigger part of their regular rotation, she said Steam Whistle would be ready to meet the demand.

"We've got capacity, we've got the people, and we're ready to ramp up production to fill retailer shelves," she said. "It's a great opportunity."

— with files from Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press