Canada’s moves to boycott imported American beers, wines and spirits in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff aggressions is reportedly beginning to take its toll.
Anti-Trump sentiment remains strong in Canada after the natives took exception to the president’s alarming talk earlier this year about annexing their country and making it the 51st state, a mood that ushered in the moderate Mark Carney as its new prime minister in March while right-leaning opposition leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat.
Canadian stores have since cleared bottles of Jack Daniel’s, Maker’s Mark and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum from their shelves and replaced them with domestic alternatives like Maverick Distillery’s Barnburner Whisky and Kavi Reserve Coffee Blended Canadian Whisky. The impact of the snub, a patriotic show of defiance in the face of Trump’s 35 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, is now beginning to be felt, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reports that the Distilled Spirits Council estimates that American liquor sales in Canada have plummeted 62 percent year-on-year for the first six months of 2025. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which is responsible for the 688 stores licensed to sell alcohol in the country’s most populous province, is meanwhile reporting zero sales of American goods, representing the obliteration of what was last year a $700 million industry.
Meanwhile, in California, the wineries belonging to the Golden State’s Wine Institute trade group say their products have lost more than $173 million in export value in the first half of this year, no surprise given that Canada was the destination for 35 percent of its exported cases. Another California business, Hope Family Wines, said its sales to Canada are down 10 percent since Trump returned to the White House in January.
In Baltimore, Sagamore Spirit’s CEO Robert Cullins said 10 percent of his company’s rye whiskey was shipped north before the president commenced his second term, but no longer, adding that the $2 million loss in sales that represents is “pretty significant” to a small craft distillery.
On the other side of the coin, the boycott has inspired a 14 percent uptick in sales of Canadian liquor in Ontario.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
The good voters of the fine state of Kentucky will surely recognize who’s to blame for this as bourbon sales crater.
Consumers in Canada don’t have to pay for a boycott! We know they are all good nationalist patriots who don’t miss such American swill!