Ontario to Remove U.S. Alcohol Products from Shelves in Response to Trump’s Tariffs
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario will also halt U.S. product orders and restocks across the province.
Ontario, Canada —
In a direct response to the U.S. President Donald Trump's recent 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, Ontario has announced it will pull all American alcohol products from its government-run liquor stores starting Tuesday.
The decision by Premier Doug Ford means that outlets of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) will not only remove U.S. alcohol from store shelves but will also take these products out of its catalog entirely. This will prevent other retailers from ordering or restocking American-made alcohol, according to a statement released Sunday by Ford’s office.
"Each year, the LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of U.S. wine, beer, spirits, and seltzers," Ford stated. "That’s no longer the case. Now is the perfect time to support Ontario-made or Canadian-made products instead."
This announcement follows swiftly after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed retaliatory tariffs of 25% on $155 billion worth of U.S. goods, a move in response to Trump’s tariffs on Canadian exports.
The LCBO, one of the largest alcohol wholesalers in Ontario, sold over 1.1 billion liters of alcoholic beverages in 2023. Canada imports a significant amount of hard liquor from the U.S., which amounted to an estimated $320 million in sales. The United States is also one of Canada's top destinations for liquor exports, with a trade value of $25.9 million as of October 2024, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
In a statement provided to CNBC, the LCBO confirmed that it would stop all sales of U.S. alcohol products both online and in its physical stores indefinitely. As the "importer of record" for American alcohol in Ontario, the LCBO currently carries more than 3,600 U.S. products from 35 different states.
Other Canadian provinces have taken similar retaliatory actions, with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston directing the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation to remove American alcohol from its shelves, effective Tuesday. Additionally, British Columbia Premier David Eby has ordered the BC Liquor Distribution Branch to cease purchasing American liquor from “red states” and remove popular “red-state” brands from store shelves.
This coordinated response signals growing tensions between the U.S. and Canada, with both countries taking measures to protect their economies and industries from the effects of tariffs.