‘American Distillers Have Been Unfairly Targeted’: US Spirits Industry Blames Canada’s Booze Ban for Trump’s 50% Tariff

President Donald Trump departs a campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In the wake of the news of the trade talks between the U.S. and Canada falling apart, Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said the tariffs are the result of Canadian provinces continuing to keep U.S. spirits off retail shelves more than a year after the restrictions were introduced.

“We appreciate the administration’s recognition that American distillers have been unfairly targeted by these Canadian provincial sales bans,” Swonger said in a statement.

The 50% tariff follows a long-running trade dispute between the two countries that has increasingly ensnared the beverage alcohol industry.

Canadian provinces began removing U.S. spirits from retail shelves in March 2025 in retaliation for tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Canadian goods. Alberta and Saskatchewan have since lifted their restrictions, but the bans remain in place elsewhere in Canada.

According to DISCUS, U.S. spirits exports to Canada fell by more than 70% year over year from March through December 2025, after the provincial bans went into effect.

“This discriminatory treatment of U.S. spirits products has persisted for more than a year and a half, causing significant economic harm to our industry,” Swonger said.

The group said the continued restrictions ultimately contributed to the new tariff, arguing that Canadian provinces had refused to restore access for American spirits.

“It is unfortunate that the Canadian provinces’ continued refusal to return U.S. spirits products to store shelves has led to this outcome,” Swonger said.

The development comes just days after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged the country’s premiers to consider putting American alcohol back on liquor store shelves as officials attempted to negotiate a broader trade agreement with the Trump administration.

The potential return of American alcohol to Canadian shelves has become one of the most visible pressure points in the broader trade dispute. While Canadian producers have benefited from increased consumer attention toward domestic wine and spirits, American producers have lost access to one of their most important export markets.

Swonger said the spirits industry now wants both countries to negotiate a solution that restores that market access.

“We encourage policymakers on both sides of the border to pursue a negotiated solution that restores market access for U.S. spirits throughout Canada and returns spirits trade to a zero-for-zero tariff framework,” he said, reiterating a sentiment he has expressed multiple times throughout this saga.

For American distillers, that would mean restoring access to Canadian consumers while eliminating the retaliatory tariffs that now threaten Canadian spirits entering the U.S.

The dispute also highlights the unusual position of the spirits industry in the broader U.S.-Canada trade fight: American distillers are pushing the Trump administration to pressure Canada while simultaneously calling for an end to the tariffs that pressure creates.

For now, the Canadian alcohol ban and the new 50% tariff remain closely linked, leaving the return of American spirits to Canadian shelves as a potential bargaining chip in the next stage of negotiations.