As the tariffs established by the Trump administration in Canada and Mexico entered into force on Tuesday, the Canadians discovered empty shelves where American liquor products were once stored.
Users of Canadian social networks published photos and videos of stores from all over the country apparently extracting American manufacturing liquor from their inventories.
Joshua Gariepy, a university student with headquarters in Quebec, published a photo on Wednesday that shows empty shelves from a store in Quebec, where American liquor products were exhibited.
“For me, this photo perfectly captures the situation: the sign ‘US products.’ It remains, but the shelves are empty, “Gariepy said in an interview, referring to the sign that is shown on the vacant shelf that reads” Etats-Unis “, French for the United States.
The Government again Brunswick said on Facebook that he has stopped buying American alcohol, publishing a video of an employee that batters wine bottles in the United States section of an NB Alcool liquor.
Another video posted on Tiktok by the user “Keltieheather” shows naked shelves under several signs of “USA.” In a store in New Scotland.
This follows an announcement of the Ontario Liquor Control Board, which has “ceased to buy all American products,” according to a statement on its website.
Trump imposed a 25% tariff on almost all the assets of Canada and Mexico, saying that the levies are destined to hold the largest commercial partners in the United States for the fentanyl that flows to the United States.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, resisted the rates, saying in a statement on Tuesday that “there was no justification” for them because “less than 1% of the intercepted fentanyl on the border of the United States came from Canada.”
In response to US tariffs, Canada returned Tuesday with own tariffs, advancing with an earlier plan to impose taxes of 25% to 155 billion Canadian dollars ($ 107 billion) of US goods.
The growing commercial war threatens to send waves through the US economy. The main retailers have already warned about consumer price increases due to new federal import taxes.
Tariffs could also increase the prices of alcohol imports from Mexico and Canada, and harm the sale of American spirits sold in those countries.
In 2023, Kentucky exported whiskey worth $ 76 million and other spirits to Canada, according to the Department of Agriculture and Agriculture of Canada. This week, Kentucky Liquor products were among those taken from Canadian stores.
“The governor of Kentucky said: ‘Do not touch our Bourbon’, and I said: ‘Governor, that is the first thing we are looking for,” Ontario’s Prime Minister Doug Ford said Tuesday. “We are the world’s largest Bourbon buyer for Kentucky Bourbon manufacturers. They have ended. They have left. ”
The council of distilled spirits said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “very worried” for American alcohol products that were eliminated from Canadian stores, as well as retaliation rates.
The Council estimated that 31,000 American jobs could be lost due to a 25% rate on distilled spirits in Canada and Mexico.
“These American tariffs on Mexico and Canada will result in great damage to US companies and employees throughout the wine and liquor supply chain, from restaurants, bars and points of sale, to loaders and importers/exporters of liquors and wine products,” he wrote.
