After enjoying a minor trade war boost from Premier Doug Ford’s American alcohol prohibition, Ontario alcohol makers are now bracing for the impacts of a ban on beer, wine and spirits imports from Canada to the United States.
United States President Donald Trump signed five executive orders late Tuesday which, among other tariff decisions, imposed full import bans on Canadian-made cheese, other dairy products, and alcoholic beverages.
The president justified the move as retaliation for Canada’s counter-tariff measures, which went into effect earlier on Tuesday.
The executive orders are the latest trade war twist for brewers and distillers on both sides of the border, who have seen their products used as key bargaining chips in the trade war.
In early 2025, when Trump first announced tariffs on some Canadian goods, Ford removed American alcohol from the shelves of the LCBO, throttling almost a billion dollars in imports from the United States.
The ban meant the LCBO started carrying more domestic wine and spirits, in particular, leading to boosts for the province’s alcohol industries, even as tariffs started to bite.
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In the spring of 2026, the Ministry of Finance said sales of Ontario-made alcohol products had increased roughly 22 per cent, with craft products up 35 per cent. An official added that sales of VQA Ontario wines were up 52 per cent after the ban, which included California wine.
Now, with a total import ban instituted by the United States, the picture could change again.
The largest hit from the import ban is likely to be to Canadian spirits, an industry which exported almost $1 billion worth of product to the United States last year.
According to Spirits Canada, 50 per cent of Canadian spirit production is tied to demand from the United States.
The figures for beer and wine are significantly smaller. Canadian wine exports to the United States are in the low millions, although a higher concentration of jobs is in Ontario.
Critics at Queen’s Park are calling on the Ford government to step in to ensure the latest tariff twist doesn’t harm jobs in Ontario.
“This is an urgent situation,” the Ontario NDP’s Catherine Fife said. “One business told me on Friday it’s equivalent to COVID. So they are asking for an emergency response to what is obviously an emerging financial challenge for the province of Ontario.”
Ontario Liberal interim leader John Fraser said the alcohol ban at the LCBO could remain in place, but urged the premier to unveil a response.
“I wouldn’t suggest we need to capitulate in the face of that — I think that’s up to the prime minister and the negotiating team to figure it out. But what he needs to have is a plan in place.”
Ford did not hold a news conference or issue a statement on the alcohol changes on Wednesday.
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