Liquor from American red states will make its way back onto the shelves at BC Liquor stores — but there’s no “huge rush” to get them there, B.C. Premier David Eby said Monday.
The reprieve on retaliatory measures came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would “pause” 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods for 30 days as a part of a border agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“The feeling I have of this is one of hope for the best, and also some skepticism we won’t find ourselves back here in 29 days wondering what the president is going to decide,” Eby said.
“So making sure we have those measures immediately ready to deploy again, that they are expanded, that they are deepened, so we can truly send the message that we are not joking around here.”
While B.C. liquor sanctions, like Trump’s tariffs, may be paused for now, the uncertainty has left the industry reeling.
“Our industry is still recovering financially from the pandemic, this is not helpful for us,” said Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of B.C. Licencees.
“We are blessed in B.C. with a thriving spirits, beer and wine industry … the challenge with some of those are a little more expensive — and that’s the real problem with this trade dispute to begin with, it is going to drive up prices on both sides of the borders, hurt businesses and hurt consumers.”
At Vancouver’s Legacy Liquor Store, brand manager Darryl Lamb said bourbon lovers were lined up early Sunday hoping to stock up ahead of an import ban.
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At the same time, at least one customer became aggressive about U.S. products still being on the shelves, he said.
“What we are really hoping for is that we leave the politics outside, come to the store, be respectful to the staff. We’re just working-class people,” he said.
“We do have a large American whiskey selection, but we also have the largest scotch whiskey collection in the province and we absolutely support and love Canadian whiskey, we have always done that.”
While the trade dispute has led to a surge in Canadian patriotism and “buy Canadian” sentiment, the province’s craft brewing industry says that likely won’t be enough to offset the impacts of tariffs, should Trump change his mind once the 30-day pause expires.
“The main thing is the aluminum for the cans and the hops. The majority of hops, the worlds largest hop market, is in the U.S., in Yakima Valley,” said Ken Beattie, executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers’ Guild.
“We do not have enough hops for the B.C. market let alone the Canadian market.”
Beattie said the province’s pricing structure is such that once markups and taxes are added in, breweries simply cannot pass those increased costs onto consumers.
The province has already lost 14 breweries in the last year, representing more than 100 employees, according to Beattie. Attempting to absorb the increased costs tariffs would bring could result in more closures, he added.
The brewing sector is calling on the province to slash the markup the Liquor Distribution Branch applies to products to allow more of the sales price to stay in brewers’ pockets.
It’s also urging people to buy craft beer, not brands owned by major multinationals.
“All of that money stays in the province, those are B.C.-owned and operated small businesses,” he said.
Eby, meanwhile, said the province remains ready to reinstate retaliatory measures if the negotiated agreement “unravels within 24 hours.”
“It’s hard to imagine that that’s the state of international trade right now, but it is, then we want to be ready to go with additional measures,” he said.
“It’s a tricky time, but we do want this to be successful, we want the tariffs to go away, we want families to be supported, we want that stability, and we want to give a chance for this new agreement to settle in.”
