Government-run liquor stores in B.C. have begun pulling ‘red-state’ U.S.-made alcohol brands from store shelves as part of the province’s initial response to new American tariffs on Canadian goods.
By Sunday afternoon, shelves carrying whisky brands like Jack Daniel’s were left empty with signs reading “Buy Canadian Instead” at the B.C. Liquor Stores’ Cambie location in Vancouver.
The move follows a directive from B.C. Premier David Eby, who announced Saturday that the province’s liquor distribution branch will stop purchasing alcohol from U.S. states led by Republican governors.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, chair of the cabinet committee handling the province’s tariff response, said the measure is deliberate.
B.C. Premier David Eby announced immediate countermeasures to U.S. tariffs on Saturday, including banning ‘red-state’ American liquor from public stores. He says the province will also fast-track permits for local projects and expand trade beyond the U.S. to reduce reliance on its market.
“We have targeted red states because, quite frankly, Donald Trump doesn’t care about Democrat states,” said Kahlon, who spoke to media at the Cambie liquor store on Sunday. “We want to make sure that we’re not punishing states that have nothing to do with this.”
The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders Saturday confirming he will impose a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian imports beginning Tuesday, with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy products.
In the executive order, Trump made specific mention of British Columbia and its role in the “heightened domestic production of fentanyl.” He had previously cited the smuggling of the illegal opioid as the initial impetus for the tariffs, along with the flow of illegal migrants across the Canada-U.S. border.
But Kahlon said Trump’s tariffs “were never about fentanyl,” pointing to a post from the U.S. president’s X account, where he again suggested Canada should become the “Cherished 51st State.”
“This was never about border crossings. This was always about causing economic harm,” Kahlon said. “It’s sad.”
Liquor stores comply
The B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch sent a letter to all industry associations on Feb. 1, saying they support the provincial and federal government’s decisions and actions in response to the tariffs.
It said on-hand inventory of Republican state products, including Jack Daniel’s, Bacardi Rum, Tito’s Vodka, Jim Beam and Bulleit Bourbon, will be removed from store shelves and replaced with Canadian alternatives.
Some local bars and B.C.-based distillers are also voicing support for the ban and using it to promote domestic products.
In a social media post Sunday afternoon, Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery urged British Columbians to raise their glasses to “Made in Canada,” while Vancouver-based The Junction Pub on Davie Street announced it will be removing American products from its shelves and sourcing “quality domestic alternatives.”
“If you stop or slow down American spirits or wine coming in, you force British Columbians to look at the wealth of what they have in their own backyard,” Okanagan Spirits CEO Tyler Dyck told CBC News in a previous interview.
Brendan Wooldridge, bar manager at The Vancouver Club, agreed.
“As hard as it might be for some of our customers on American spirits, especially bourbon from Kentucky, overall I am not too concerned,” he said. “I’m also positive that there are such great Canadian products available in Canada.”
Meanwhile, B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad said on Sunday that it’s “absolutely ridiculous” to think Eby’s countermeasures would add any pressure at all on to the Americans.
“All that will do is piss them off and risk them going even harder against us,” Rustad said.
Calls for stronger action amid job loss concerns
John Brink, who employs about 400 people in northern B.C. through his group of lumber-focused companies, including Brink Forest Products, says his business is already feeling the impact. About 90 per cent of his company’s lumber products are exported to the U.S., and he says the new tariffs — on top of existing softwood lumber duties — will be crushing.
“It’s close to 40 per cent in total. I’m not sure if anybody can afford that,” he said.
A statement by the White House on Saturday says U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. The tariff order on Canada is 25 per cent on all imports, and 10 per cent on oil and gas to ‘minimize rise in costs.’
The B.C. Lumber Trade Council has warned that higher tariffs will erode competitiveness, put mills under financial strain, and lead to job losses.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke echoed those concerns, noting that her city, home to the largest border crossing on the West Coast, is particularly vulnerable.
She says over 20 per cent of Surrey businesses have direct trade ties with the U.S. and the tariff leaves the city in a vulnerable situation.
“We will be hit first and we will be hit hard.”
Locke is urging the province to provide relief by cutting the gas tax, suspending provincial sales tax on B.C.-made goods and rolling out a comprehensive support package similar to those introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Those are … things that can happen right now that would make a big difference,” she said. “Families and businesses are absolutely panicking.”
Rustad said his party has also proposed a 10-point tariff response plan and is calling on the NDP government to implement it immediately. In a letter to Eby, Rustad outlined key measures, including negotiating an agreement to remove interprovincial trade barriers, cutting the carbon tax and reopening B.C. trade offices in foreign countries.
In response, Kahlon said the federal government is already working on initial support measures for affected industries.
“We’ll do this methodically and in partnership with the federal government,” he said. “Of course, all ideas are welcome, but we want to make sure any support we put in place is targeted to those that are being impacted directly.”
