US Alcohol Could Return to Quebec Shelves if Trump Is Willing to Make Concessions, Premier Says

(Photo: Graham Hughes /The Canadian Press via AP)

Premier Christine Fréchette says that Quebec liquor stores are willing to restock American-made alcohol —  if and when the Trump administration makes key trade concessions. The announcement comes little over a week before a 50% retaliatory tariff on certain Canadian imports is slated to take effect.

At a press conference on Monday, Fréchette said that she’d like to see a reduction in tariff barriers for forestry, aluminum and manufacturing, all of which have seen “significant and damaging” impacts from the White House’s trade policies.

Quebec is one of eight Canadian provinces in which American alcohol is currently unavailable, a boycott that US officials claim has cost distillers hundreds of millions of dollars.

“I am ready to consider the return under the condition that Quebec makes gains,” Fréchette told reporters. “From the moment there are gains, well then I would be open to return the alcohol to the shelves.”

Fréchette noted that Quebec is unwilling to budge on some of the Trump administration’s long-standing demands. She said that the province’s language and culture policies — recently classified by the White House as a non-tariff trade barrier — are not up for discussion. The same goes for the province’s supply management system for milk and dairy products, a sticking point that American officials have portrayed as lopsided protectionism.

Reports circulated on Friday that the Canadian government was prepared to ease restrictions on US alcohol sales. According to CBC News, negotiators are willing to end provincial bans, lift retaliatory tariffs on American automobiles and change dairy policies in exchange for a moratorium on the 50% tariff scheduled to take effect on Aug. 19.

Quebec officials were quick to point out that decisions fall to the provincial, not federal level. In a statement released at the end of last week, Fréchette’s office said that the American alcohol ban will remain in effect “until an agreement that we deem fair has been negotiated.”

“The sale of alcohol falls exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Quebec government. Quebec, and Quebec alone, will make that decision,” the statement continued.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has publicly acknowledged that the decision lies in the hands of provincial leaders, many of whom have continued to take a firm stance against the Trump administration’s demands. In July, British Columbia Premier David Eby said that “there’s not a chance in hell” that US alcohol is returning to his province’s shelves; weeks earlier, Ontario Premier Doug Ford remarked that he “won’t back down.”

If the 50% tariff on Canadian goods takes effect on Aug 19, it will extend to all provinces, including those that don’t currently have a ban in place on US alcohol.