Tapped out: Canada kicks American booze as US alcohol sales plunge by 66% amid tariff war

Independent

3 days ago

America is feeling the hangover from Canada's boycott of U.S. liquor, as sales dropped by 66 percent up north, a new analysis has found.
In March, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario announced it would no longer carry American booze in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on the country. From March through the end of April, sales of U.S. booze in Canada plummeted more than 66 percent, an analysis by trade group Spirits Canada, seen by Bloomberg, found.
That figure was even higher in Ontario, the country's largest liquor market. There, sales of U.S. alcohol dropped 80 percent in the same period, according to the analysis.
This month, Trump has threatened a new 35 percent tax on goods imported from Canada, one of the U.S.'s top trading partners. In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the president cited the country's 'failure to stop [fentanyl] from pouring into our Country' as the reason behind the new tariffs. In March, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said less than 1 per cent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada.
The new tariffs are set to take effect August 1.
As tensions flare between the U.S. and Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford this week urged Canadians to buy local. 'Start buying Canadian-made everything. That will hurt them more than anything at all. We're their number one customer,' Ford, according to CTV News. 'We are an economic powerhouse, and we don't have to take a backseat to anyone.'
Canadians first pushed back after Trump threatened initial hefty levies in March.
Moosehead Breweries, a Canadian brewery founded in 1867, announced the 'Presidential Pack.' Each pack contains 1,461 cans, one beer for each day remaining in Trump's second presidency. The company called it 'just enough to get through the full presidential term.'
Karen Grigg, Director of Marketing at Moosehead Breweries, issued a statement at the time: "If the start of 2025 has taught us anything, it's that it will take determination to weather four years of political uncertainty—and what better way to make it through each day than with a truly Canadian beer."
As part of the boycott, some liquor stores boasted empty shelves where American liquor was once kept while others put up signs that urged customers to 'Buy Canadian instead.'
Canada's boycott on U.S. goods could pose a threat to U.S. trade. Canada served as the U.S.'s second-largest food export market last year, valued at $28.4 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Canada's restrictions on American liquor isn't just impacting the U.S., it's leading to a decrease in all spirit sales in the country, the analysis revealed. Total liquor sales plunged 13 percent.
The removal of American products from Canadian shelves 'is deeply problematic for spirits producers on both sides of the border,' Cal Bricker, chief executive officer of Spirits Canada, told Bloomberg.
Trailing behind the European Union, Canada is the second-highest export market for American liquor, accounting for $262 million in exports, according to a 2023 report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. By comparison, the U.S. exported $883 million to the EU that same year.