Ontario won’t bring U.S. alcohol back to LCBO as Alberta, Saskatchewan relent

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he won’t be ordering the LCBO to restock alcohol from the United States, despite plans from neighbouring provinces to begin selling American booze again.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Globe and Mail on Monday, Ford addressed plans by the premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta to restore American-made alcohol in their provinces.

“Not until he gets rid of these tariffs — why should I? It’s a small kitchen table issue, (but) Kentucky knows how important bourbon is to the economy,” Ford said when asked if he would follow the western provinces.

U.S.-made alcohol was removed from the stores of the LCBO at the beginning of March as part of a series of measures designed to punish the United States for levying tariffs on Canadian exports like steel, aluminum and cars.

The Ontario government estimates that just under $1 billion of U.S. alcohol was sold by the LCBO last year, across 3,600 different products.

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Roughly 48 per cent of those sales was American liquor, of which the LCBO sold 22 million litres last year for $461 million. Wine made up around 42 per cent of the total with 21 million litres sold at $408 million.

Just $7 million worth of U.S. beer was sold by the LCBO last year, according to figures from the LCBO, while the remainder includes direct orders for some retailers and pre-made ready-to-drink beverages.

Ontario’s move was mirrored across parts of the country. With tariffs still in place, however, other jurisdictions appear to have relented.

Ford said that, while the booze ban has not forced Trump to revisit the tariff issue, he still believes it is an important diplomatic tool.

“It might be a small dollar figure, but when we’re the largest purchaser of alcohol in the entire world, the LCBO, you have to use that leverage. And thousands and thousands of jobs are being lost in Kentucky and in California…. there’s one person causing this problem,” he said.

“Don’t mess with people’s booze, they lose their minds. Simple as that.”

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