An LCBO employee removes American whiskey from the shelves at an LCBO outlet in Toronto, March, 2025. Ontario's ban has been in place since then.Laura Proctor/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is open to putting U.S. alcohol back on store shelves even if U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian autos, metals and forest products are only reduced and not eliminated.
On Thursday, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s top trade emissaries remained in Washington, scrambling for a deal, Mr. Ford signalled that he was willing to co-operate to get an agreement that would avoid Mr. Trump’s latest threatened tariffs, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 19.
At an unrelated announcement in Guelph, Ont., Mr. Ford declined to call for an end to all U.S. tariffs as a precondition to ending his alcohol ban, which has been in place since March, 2025. He did, however, outline the sectors that he said would need to be covered by a trade pact.
“If we get a fair deal that will protect our steel sector, our auto sector, our forestry sector, our agricultural sector, manufacturing sector, then we’d be more than happy to bring booze back on shelves,” he said, adding Quebec’s aluminum sector to his list of requirements in response to another question.
The co-operation of Mr. Ford and other premiers could be crucial in reaching a deal.
Ottawa weighs proposal on auto tariffs as it presses U.S. for reprieve, sources say
As The Globe and Mail has previously reported, the proposal currently under discussion would entail the U.S. reducing – but not eliminating – Mr. Trump’s tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum in exchange for Canada agreeing to a long list of American demands.
One of these is that Canadian provinces drop their bans on U.S. liquor and Buy Canadian policies, both of which were introduced to retaliate against Mr. Trump’s trade war. Another is that Canada completely lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. autos in exchange for Washington reducing its levies on Canadian-made cars.
Mr. Ford pushed back against the latter demand Thursday.
“We have to match tariff for tariff. We can’t negotiate through weakness. They can’t put tariffs on our autos and we’re not putting tariffs on theirs,” he said. Mr. Ford has no control over the retaliatory auto tariffs, which were imposed by Ottawa.
On Thursday afternoon, Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister Responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, and Janice Charette, Canada’s chief negotiator, met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at his office near the White House for an hour and a half.
“It’s always positive to work with the Americans in the interest of Canadians,” Mr. LeBlanc said on his way in. On his way out, he added: “We’re going to have as many meetings as it takes.”
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and Canada's chief trade negotiator Janice Charette speak to the media at the Embassy of Canada in Washington in June.Anna Rose Layden/Reuters
It was their second sit-down this week and their fourth in less than a month. The two countries exchanged written negotiating positions at a previous, hour-long meeting Tuesday, and Mr. LeBlanc and Ms. Charette have since been hunkered down with their officials at the Canadian embassy.
Mr. LeBlanc’s office said he was expected to remain in the U.S. capital Friday. Mr. Greer is scheduled to attend the Iowa State Fair. Ms. Charette has been encamped semi-permanently in Washington with her team.
Last year, Mr. Trump imposed tariffs of 50 per cent on steel and aluminum, 25 per cent on autos and between 10 and 25 per cent on various forest products under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
The current negotiations are aimed at getting these reduced, as well as stopping Mr. Trump from making good on the threat of another suite of tariffs he announced last month. They would entail 50-per-cent levies on US$20-billion worth of Canadian electronic equipment, alcohol, dairy and other products and are set to be imposed Aug. 19 under Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
Ms. Charette told Mr. Greer last week that, if the latest tariffs come into effect, negotiations would come to a halt and Canada would be forced to retaliate.
Canada’s top negotiator told U.S. counterparts Aug. 19 tariffs could halt trade talks, sources say
Among provincial leaders, Mr. Ford, British Columbia Premier David Eby and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew have been Mr. Trump’s loudest critics. Last month, after the President made his latest tariff threat, Mr. Eby vowed: “There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelf in British Columbia.”
Although U.S. alcohol represents a tiny piece of the Canada-U.S. trading relationship, the retaliation seems to have particularly angered the White House.
Like Mr. Ford, Mr. Kinew left the door open this week to ending the ban if the deal struck in Washington is good enough. At a Wednesday news conference in Winnipeg, he said that removing U.S. alcohol from store shelves has been “very effective” and has “clearly gotten the attention of the American administration.”
“Whether or not that deal actually happens, I don’t know. We’re willing to be there, shoulder to shoulder with Team Canada, and if there’s a deal that benefits our country, benefits our province, that involves putting U.S. booze back on the shelves, then we’ll go along with the rest of the country,” Mr. Kinew said.
Mr. Ford said Thursday that he had spoken at length with Mr. LeBlanc about the negotiations. He also repeatedly criticized Mr. Trump, saying, “He drives me crazy” and calling on U.S. voters to punish him in this fall’s midterm congressional elections.
“My message to the Americans: A tariff on Canada is a tax on the American people. They’re feeling the pain. As we saw last month, they didn’t have any job creation,” he said. “My message to the American people: Remember when it comes to the midterms, you have to get that bully and send him the message.”