American Spirits Industry Urges Trump to Get American Alcohol Back on Canadian Shelves

President Donald Trump speaks outside the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Washington, near the construction site of the new helicopter landing zone on the South Lawn of the White House. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States is urging President Donald Trump to use the latest pause in his tariff fight with Canada to restore American spirits sales across the country.

Chris Swonger, president and CEO of DISCUS, welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to delay a threatened 50% tariff on Canadian products, including spirits, but said the industry wants negotiations to address Canada’s provincial bans on American alcohol.

“We appreciate President Trump’s continued commitment to restoring access for American spirits products across Canada,” Swonger said in a statement Tuesday evening.

The comments came after Trump said the United States and Canada had reached a last-minute deal to delay the 50% tariffs that had been scheduled to take effect Aug. 20. Trump said the three-day pause would give the two countries additional time to finalize an agreement.

The threatened tariffs were tied in part to the Trump administration’s complaints about Canadian treatment of U.S. alcohol exports.

Canada’s provinces and territories began removing American alcohol from government-run liquor stores in March 2025 after Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods. The moves effectively cut off a major market for U.S. spirits producers.

“These provincial bans have caused exports of American spirits to drop by more than 70%, leaving American distillers caught in the middle of a broader trade dispute,” Swonger said.

The Canadian restrictions have become a major point of contention for U.S. alcohol producers during the broader trade fight.

For American distillers, ending the tariffs would not by itself restore access to the Canadian market. The provincial restrictions are separate from the U.S. tariffs and have kept American spirits off shelves even as the two countries have continued negotiating over trade.

Swonger called on American and Canadian decision makers to use the additional time to reach an agreement that would restore American spirits sales throughout Canada.

“As discussions continue over the next few days, we encourage leaders on both sides of the border to reach a negotiated solution that gets American spirits back on retail shelves in all Canadian provinces and returns the spirits sector to a zero-for-zero tariff framework,” he said.

The push comes as Canadian officials have also faced pressure over whether American alcohol should return to provincial liquor stores as part of a broader trade agreement.

Earlier this month, some Canadian wine industry officials said they would support bringing U.S. wine back to store shelves if doing so helped reduce tariffs and protected other Canadian industries.

The issue has also become politically sensitive in Canada, where consumers have increasingly turned to domestic producers during the prolonged restrictions on American alcohol.

For U.S. distillers, the stakes extend beyond the current tariff deadline. Canada has historically been an important export market for American spirits, and producers say losing access has forced them to find alternative markets for products that would otherwise have been sold north of the border.

Trump’s latest three-day delay gives negotiators more time to resolve the dispute, but it does not yet put American spirits back on Canadian shelves.