Trade tensions between the United States and Canada have spilled into the alcohol aisle, as Canadian provinces have begun removing American liquor from stores shelves in response to the 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods imposed by President Donald Trump.
Lawson Whiting, CEO of Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, said Wednesday that the move is “worse than a tariff.”
“It’s literally taking your sales away,” Whiting said on a post-earnings call. “Completely removing these — our products — from the shelves, that’s a very disproportionate response to a 25 percent tariff.”
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retaliated with 25 percent tariffs on roughly $107 billion worth of U.S. products. About $21 billion worth of those goods would be hit immediately, including beer, wine and spirits, with the remainder of the tariffs going into effect about three weeks later. Trump has also angered Canadians by suggesting the country should become the 51st U.S. state.
Now, Canadian provinces are joining the pushback.
This week, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew posted a video on Instagram signing an order to remove U.S. alcohol from government-run stores. “This order, it’s a wonderful order, it’s a beautiful order,” he says in the clip, mimicking Trump’s tone. Within a day, the video garnered more than 6 million views and tens of thousands of comments.
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“I’m an American and I approve of this message,” reads the top-rated comment. “Elbows up Canada,” wrote one user, a phrase that has become a rallying cry in the country after actor Mike Myers made reference to the defensive hockey move on a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live.”
Not everyone was in favor, though. One user described Kinew’s action as “performative but not effective.”
Last year, the United States exported to Canada over $300 million worth of spirits, wine worth $422 million and beer worth $41 million, according to Trading Economics. The United States imported from Canada a total of $771 million worth of spirits, beer and wine in the same period.
“For decades, there have been zero for zero tariffs on spirits trade between the U.S. and Canada,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement this week. “We urge the U.S. and Canada to work together to reach an agreement that continues to foster a thriving spirits industry between our two countries.”
The North American alcohol industry is interconnected, and tariffs on tequila and Canadian whisky will harm U.S. companies that have these liquors in their brand portfolios, the association has said. It estimates that 25 percent tariffs on imports of distilled spirits from Mexico and Canada could lead to a loss of more than 31,000 U.S. jobs.
At least five other Canadian provinces — Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador have taken similar actions against American alcohol.
The liquor board in Ontario said it stocked over 3,600 alcohol products from 35 American states. The province is a key destination for Kentucky bourbon, and Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, said of the product this week: “They’re done, they’re gone.”
Bourbon is a $9 billion industry in Kentucky and generates more than 23,00o jobs, according to the state’s distillers association. Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, has opposed Trump’s tariffs and said their impact “is going to be incredibly difficult and challenging for our people.”
On Wednesday, automakers won a reprieve from Trump as he agreed to a one-month pause of tariffs on some automobile imports from Canada and Mexico. The decision followed a phone conversation with executives from General Motors, Ford and Stellantis seeking relief.