US liquor brands pulled off Canadian shelves as trade war escalates

Jack Daniels hits back against Canada in its ensuing trade war against the US

A patriotic wave has swept over Canadian supermarkets following the imposition of a 25% tariff on goods exported to the US. The Trudeau administration responded with a retaliatory 25% tariff in kind, whilst calling on shoppers to “choose Canadian products and services over American ones” wherever possible.

Since then, Canadian flags have bloomed over supermarket shelves to designate domestic produce, whilst American imports, such as Jack Daniels’ liquor, have at worst been removed off shelves entirely.

Lawson Whiting of Brown-Forman, which owns the Jack Daniel’s brand, has described this decision by Canadian provinces as “worse than tariffs”.

US-Canadian hockey matches have boiled into brawls between players, the American anthem has been booed en masse at matches, and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has publicly referred to Trump’s tariff policy as a “dumb” move. Yet it has been provincial decisions to evict US imports from supermarket shelves that has provoked responses from the business world.

American liquor has traditionally held cultural influence in Canada, with fewer national differences in consumer taste between the two countries where alcohol is concerned. This is no exception for Jack Daniel’s, a brand which is approximately known by over 85% spirits drinkers in Canada.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) decision to take US-made alcoholic drinks off supermarket shelves has eliminated what Mr Whiting says is “only 1% of Brown-Forman’s total sales” in Jack Daniels’ sales. Despite claiming the firm can “withstand the hit” he has described the Canadian response, in tandem with its 25% import levy, as “disproportionate” to America’s tariff policy.

Both countries have imposed 25% tariffs on each other in the ensuing trade dispute the last few months, although both have a history of trade retaliation. The two broke out over softwood lumber in 2002, whilst over 2018-9, during Trump’s first administration, tariffs were reciprocated over steel and aluminium imports.

Mr Whiting is optimistic about Mexico, which has enabled itself a recent track record in negotiating itself out of the impact of Trump’s protectionist policies. The central American country comprised 7% of Brown-Forman sales in 2024.

Spilt liquor is a small part of this latest trade war, yet may encapsulate some of the sentiment felt by Canadians towards the Trump Administration. With 85% of Canadians intending to replace US products with home-grown alternatives, this is one economic dispute not reserved for industry bosses and government to fight out.

It is difficult to foresee when Jack Daniels’, and other US imports, returns to Canadian tumblers.