A ban on US alcohol remains in place in Ontario, Canada until the US cuts its tariffs or reaches a new deal, the province’s premier has said.
Last Friday (22 August), Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country would remove tariffs on US goods covered under the CUSMA free-trade deal.
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It means that US spirits imports will not be subject to a 25% tariff from Monday (1 September).
However, Ontario, which has banned US alcohol from liquor store shelves since March, doesn’t plan to allow the sale of these products again for the time being.
Responding to a question on whether US alcohol would return to Ontario in a press conference on Wednesday (27 August), Doug Ford said: “Well, it’s still going to be banned until they cut the tariffs or we make a deal with them. It’s not coming on our shelves.”
He added: “If there’s another deal, so a USMCA deal, which I don’t think is going to happen for the next few months but you never know with President Trump. He could pull the carpet out from underneath us in a heartbeat like he has before, or they get rid of their tariffs and then we’ll bring the booze back into the LCBO.”
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By GlobalDataThe Liquor Board of Ontario [LCBO] is the province’s government-run alcohol retailer and wholesaler.
Canada imposed the tariff on imported US spirits in March in response to duties placed on Canadian products by the US.
The move from Washington resulted in Canadian provinces removing US products from liquor store shelves.
Both the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces removed the ban in June, but it remains in place in other provinces like Ontario and Quebec.
In Wednesday’s press conference, Ford was also asked whether Ontario had plans to dump US alcohol products nearing their expiration date.
Last week, SAQ, the liquor board of Quebec, said it planned to donate some American alcohol products to organisations across the province as they were nearing expiration.
The products include “rosé wines, boxed wines, ready-to-drink beverages, creams, certain beers, and liqueurs that are not intended for long-term storage”, they said in a statement.
In response, Ford said: “We still have a few months before anything expires and we’ll take it from there.”
US distillers have given a lukewarm response to Canada’s plan to lift tariffs, due to the ban of US alcohol from some province’s shelves.
Earlier this week, Chris Swonger, the president and CEO of US spirits-industry trade body DISCUS, called Carney’s decision “a very positive sign” but added: “Until all provinces put American spirits back on their shelves it won’t have much of an impact.
“The unfortunate decision to remove American spirits from Canadian retail shelves is not only harming US distillers but it’s also needlessly reducing revenues for the provinces and placing unnecessary burdens on Canadian consumers and hospitality businesses.”
