Ontario and Quebec, along with several other Canadian provinces, banned the sale of US alcohol on Tuesday in response to import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
“This is an enormous hit to American producers,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said whilst announcing the measures implemented by Canada’s largest province.
The publicly managed Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) annually sells US alcohol products valued at nearly one billion Canadian dollars ($688 million), according to Ford.
Earlier in the day, the LCBO’s website displayed a notice indicating the removal of “US products in response to US tariffs on Canadian goods.”
Quebec authorities instructed the provincial alcohol distributor to cease supplying American alcoholic beverages to shops, bars and restaurants. Manitoba’s Premier Wab Kinew announced: “We are taking US alcohol off the shelves.”
British Columbia’s provincial government announced its liquor distributor would “stop buying American liquor from ‘red states’,” referring to states supporting Trump’s Republican Party.
During his final days in office, Trudeau declared in a direct news conference that Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs exceeding $100 billion on American goods in response to Trump’s 25% tariffs.
“Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau stated with visible anger.
Trump implemented tariffs against his nation’s primary trading partners, prompting immediate countermeasures from Mexico, Canada and China, causing market instability. After midnight, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, whilst limiting Canadian energy tariffs to 10%.
“What he wants to see is a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that will make it easier to annex us,” Trudeau stated. “That is never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state,” he continued.
“I want to speak directly to one specific American, Donald. It’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” Trudeau added.
