A new report from an American alcohol industry group says that US liquor exports to Canada have dropped by 63% in 2025. The drop would be most due to multiple Canadian provinces refusing to put American booze on the shelves as a response to the Trump administrations tariffs and annexation threats. During a committee meeting of the Office of the United States Trade the CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Chris Swonger, told the committee how Canadian retaliatory measures have been impacting the American liquor industry. "Even the threat of tariffs creates uncertainty, negatively impacting exports," Swonger told the committee, noting both Canadian retaliatory liquor bans. He also mentioned how "trade frictions," between the US administration and other countries, has caused domestic spirit sales to slump for the first time in decades and has resulted in the industry losing nearly 1,000 jobs.At the time of writing eight out of ten Canadian provinces still maintain a ban on the sale of American alcohol, only Alberta and Saskatchewan still allow US liquor to be sold, although they still encouraged consumers to buy Canadian..The liquor bans have evidently hit the US liquor industry hard, with the ban from Ontario being especially impactful as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, a Crown corporation, is the single largest purchaser of alcohol in the world. This ban has been noted as a significant trade irritant for the current American administration, with US President Donald Trump commenting on it multiple times as a source of concern in trade discussions with Canada. The most vocal proponent of this ban is Ontario Premier Doug Ford who has repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining the ban until the US drops all tariffs on Canada. "American alcohol will only go back on shelves when the U.S. removes its tariffs,” Ford wrote on Twitter. With the Northern American free trade agreement CUSMA set be be renegotiated later on this year, the reinstatement of American liquor on Canadian shelves will likely be a pressure point in trade discussions between Canada and the United States.
