Stores and restaurants across Canada are boycotting American-made alcoholic beverages after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on the country. According to The New York Times, TV broadcasts showed Canadian employees from multiple establishments removing American spirits and wine from their shelves after the tariffs took effect on Tuesday.
“People are going to get frustrated, but I think they’ll adapt,” Giovanni Cassano, a restaurant owner in Canada, told The Times.
After Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on Canadian exports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retaliated with a 25 percent tariff on American goods. On Thursday, however, the U.S. announced the tariffs on Canada would be delayed until April 2. Despite the delay, some Canadian business owners plan to continue boycotting American products.
American products being boycotted
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford told The Times that approximately 3,600 American products will be pulled from liquor stores in the province. Several other provinces are following Ontario’s lead.
In the Manitoba region, Premier Wab Kinew shared a video in which he imitated Trump while mockingly signing an executive order.
“This order, it’s a wonderful order, it’s a beautiful order. This order is pulling American booze off the liquor market shelves,” Kinew said, surrounded by staff members who responded with applause.
Lawson Whiting, CEO of Brown-Forman, the parent company of Jack Daniel’s, said removing American products may be costly for Canadians.
“Not just beverage alcohol, but a lot of American-made products have come off the shelves in Canada, which is tough,” Whiting told The Times. “That’s worse than a tariff because it’s literally taking your sales away.”
Brown-Forman, parent company of Jack Daniel’s closed a cooperage and laid off people
According to CNN, Whiting said Canada accounts for only 1 percent of his company’s total sales, and they are prepared to “withstand” any potential losses. However, other organizations have expressed concerns about the impact of tariffs on American businesses. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), a trade group representing spirits makers, issued a statement on Tuesday.
As CNN reported, prior to the tariffs being imposed, the company “laid off around 700 employees and closed a Kentucky cooperage, where wooden barrels are produced to age whiskey and bourbon.”
“American wines and spirits have benefitted from fair and reciprocal trade with Canada and Mexico,” DISCUS said, per CNN. “These U.S. tariffs on Mexico and Canada will result in great harm to U.S. companies and employees throughout the wine and spirits supply chain.”
