In this photo illustration, Lot 40, a Canadian whiskey, is displayed for purchase at The San Francisco Wine Trading Company.Heather Diehl/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs on Canadian goods represent an “existential threat” to the country’s distilling industry, which exports about $1-billion of spirits to the U.S. each year, said the head of Canada’s trade association for the sector.
On Monday, Mr. Trump released a new list of Canadian goods that will be subjected to U.S. tariffs. It contains hundreds of products that will be slapped with 50-per-cent levies starting Aug. 19, including Canadian whiskey, rum, gin and vodka.
These tariffs have the potential to gut the industry, said Spirits Canada chief executive officer Cal Bricker. The association represents producers such as Windsor-based Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd., Corby Spirit and Wine Ltd., along with Diageo PLC, which produces Crown Royal in Gimli, Man., and Valleyfield, Que.
“The root of the disappointment is, if there’s a model for free trade in North America, it’s the spirit sector,” Mr. Bricker said, referencing the current lack of tariffs on spirits.
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In 2025, Canada exported $945-million worth of spirits to the U.S., according to Statistics Canada. Mr. Bricker said that accounts for about half of the $2-billion worth of liquor that Canada produces each year.
Last year, those exports included about $311-million of whiskey, $545-million of liqueurs and cordials, $34-million of gin, $26-million of undenatured ethyl alcohol, $15-million of rum and $14-million of vodka, Statscan data said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, nine of Canada’s provinces reached an agreement to lift longstanding interprovincial barriers on alcohol sales. Under new rules, brewers and distillers will be allowed to sell alcohol directly to consumers across provincial borders.
Mr. Bricker said that while the changes may boost sales for some craft spirits makers, he believes it will not have much of an effect on the overall market owing to factors such as shipping costs.
“The question’s always been, ‘Why wasn’t this gotten rid of a long time ago?’” he said. “So the fact that they were able to come together and sign the agreement that they did, I think that’s an achievement. But the actual impact on the business is going to be marginal.”
As for the trade with Canada’s southern neighbour, he pointed out that two provinces – Saskatchewan and Alberta – currently sell U.S. liquor products. That came after they reversed course in June, 2025, on the bans that were sparked by the U.S.-Canada trade war earlier last year.
“By the United States doing what it’s doing, it’s retaliating against two provinces that aren’t retaliating against it,” he said.
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He added that some Canadian producers are controlled by U.S. parent companies. For example, New York-based Suntory Global Spirits Inc. owns Alberta Distillers Ltd., a producer of vodka and rye whiskey.
“You’re retaliating against yourself, right? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Although Mr. Bricker was reluctant to speak about the full effects that would result if the tariffs were implemented, he was optimistic that the contentious U.S.-Canada trade relationship will not reach a new low.
“Our expectation and our hope is that Canada and the United States can get something worked out between now and then.”
With reports from The Canadian Press