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Canadian provinces hold firm on U.S. alcohol bans
Trump administration uses another tariff threat as Canada seeks a broad trade agreement
Bottles of American-made rum removed from a shelf at a liquor store in Toronto. (Christopher Katsarov Luna/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- The Trump administration used another tariff threat to pressure Canadian provinces to end U.S. alcohol boycotts, but Ontario and British Columbia refused.
- Provincial bans have cost American alcohol producers millions in sales while giving Canada a visible bargaining chip in broader trade negotiations.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney said provinces should decide individually whether to lift bans as part of an overall U.S.-Canada agreement.
President Donald Trump’s administration is using another tariff threat to put fresh pressure on Canadian provinces to end their boycotts of U.S. alcohol. But provincial leaders aren’t backing off.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he won’t lift his province’s ban on the sale of American wine and spirits in government-run stores unless the U.S. removes sectoral tariffs on autos and steel. “We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness. And we need to throw everything on the table,” he told reporters in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on July 21. Trump is “nothing but a bully,” he added.
Canada is still angling for a comprehensive trade deal with the U.S. and appears set on using alcohol as a bargaining chip. Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that any decision to lift a ban “will be taken by the provinces themselves each individually, and should only be taken — in my judgment — as part of an overall agreement.”
Several Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, pulled U.S. wine and spirits from government-operated stores after Trump started a trade war last year, costing American booze-makers millions of dollars in sales. Even though alcohol accounts for a tiny fraction of trade between the two countries, the initiative is very visible and has been irritating the White House.
Canada is “highly discriminatory on dairy products, U.S. alcohol,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network on July 21, dubbing the new tariff threat as “just reciprocity to what they’ve done to our great U.S. companies.”
BESSENT DEFENDS 50% CANADA TARIFF AS "RECIPROCITY"
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration's new 50% tariffs on selected Canadian imports are a reciprocal response to what it describes as discriminatory Canadian trade practices, citing restrictions on… pic.twitter.com/WLQ9EvwCx7 — Washington Eye (@washington_EY) July 21, 2026
Other provinces aren’t keen to back down either. “There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelf,” British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters in Charlottetown, where Canadian premiers have assembled to meet.
Before Carney’s comments, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he expects the prime minister to ask provinces to remove their alcohol bans to smooth discussions with the U.S. administration. Saskatchewan and its neighbor, Alberta, permit the sale of American liquor in government stores.
“That’ll be a decision each province will have to make, but that ask should come from the federal government,” Moe said. “They’re at the negotiating table.”
International trade lawyer Mark Warner argued there’s no legal basis for the provinces’ action.
“The booze ban is problematic because it’s kind of a blunt instrument,” he said, adding that dropping the measure might help advance trade discussions with the U.S. while having minimal economic effect.
“If Canadians will not buy American bourbon and Californian wine, you don’t need a ban,” Warner said. “Put it back on the store and nobody will buy it.”
