In a cosy gastropub in Toronto\u2019s leafy neighbourhood of Cabbagetown, on the edge of the city\u2019s bustling CBD, is a sight Donald Trump despises. <\/p>\n
So bad is it, it\u2019s now hanging over imminent trade talks between the Trump administration and Ottawa.<\/p>\n
Yet, the cause of the consternation might be hard to spot at House on Parliament, which offers British-inspired fare with a Canadian twist, like Nova Scotia fish and chips.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s rankled the White House is something that is missing from the menu. And not just this menu: it\u2019s vanished from almost every menu across this vast nation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Go to the drinks section, and you\u2019ll see scotch, Irish whiskey and, unsurprisingly, Canadian whiskey listed.<\/p>\n
Nowhere will you now find US whiskey. <\/p>\n
Huge American bourbon brands, like Jack Daniels, have disappeared from Canadian restaurants, bars and bottle shops. Wine and beer produced by Canada\u2019s neighbour, just 65km away over the frigid Lake Ontario waters, are also conspicuously absent. <\/p>\n
Bars in Toronto can\u2019t sell American alcohol even if they wanted to. But most aren\u2019t that fussed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur customers have no interest in buying any US spirits,\u201d House on Parliament\u2019s co-owner Tania Waldock told news.com.au. <\/p>\n
White House winces at Canada ban<\/p>\n
In eight of Canada\u2019s 10 provinces, accounting for 85 per cent of its 37 million residents, American alcohol has been off the shelves for more than a year. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s retaliation for tariffs the US foisted on Canada, pummeling the Canadian car industry and destroying usually cordial cross border relations. The whole \u201c51st state\u201d haranguing by Mr Trump didn’t help either. <\/p>\n
For just spirits and wine, that\u2019s cost US producers at least $800 million in lost sales.<\/p>\n
Last month, Jamieson Greer, one of the US\u2019 top trade negotiators, put the government of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on notice. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy sense is there may have to be an enforcement action <\/a>to deal with this issue on wine and spirits in Canada,\u201d he said,<\/p>\n The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade deal, which has shielded much of Canada\u2019s industry from US tariffs, could expire on July 1. Ottawa doesn\u2019t want that to happen \u2013 but it also doesn\u2019t want to cave to Washington.<\/p>\n An economist has told news.com.au that while Canada\u2019s ban of US booze has been striking, it likely \u201cwouldn\u2019t change US behaviour\u201d when it came to tariffs. <\/p>\n US alcohol \u2018hasn\u2019t been missed\u2019<\/p>\n In Ontario, the ban began in March.<\/p>\n \u201cSlowly our personal inventory (of US liquor) was consumed,\u201d Ms Waldock said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it hasn\u2019t been missed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are ample options for wine and it has allowed for some markets, like Australia, to be revisited.<\/p>\n Kentucky Bourbon was popular, conceded Ms Waldock, \u201cbut Canada has a lot of options that rival many of the US brands\u201d. <\/p>\n \u2018Dramatic impact\u2019<\/p>\n The US\u2019 Distilled Spirits Council <\/a>(USDSC) has stated Canada\u2019s provincial bans have had a \u201cdramatic impact\u201d.<\/p>\n Liquor exports to Canada in 2025 were down 63 per cent, from $US203m ($282m) to just $US60m ($83m). As dire as that figure is, it included several months when there were no restrictions. <\/p>\n A global decline in US spirits exports by 3.8 per cent was \u201cdriven in part by a sharp drop in exports to Canada\u201d, stated the USDSC.<\/p>\n That\u2019s contributed to nearly 1000 job losses in the US. Jim Beam has said it will halt production at its flagship Kentucky distillery for all of 2026. <\/p>\n In contrast, sales of Canadian whiskey have soared domestically, with one distiller saying its supply to Ontario alone was up 300 per cent year on year<\/a>. <\/p>\n Canada had been the top destination for US wine exports. Around $C50m ($51m) of red and whites, mainly from California and Oregon, were quaffed each month from Vancouver to Montreal. <\/p>\n \u201cThat dropped to nearly zero \u2026 [a] big effect in terms of the change of buying behaviour,\u201d economist Trevor Tombe of the University of Calgary told news.com.au. <\/p>\n US industry body The Wine Institute has said the $US357 ($495m) \u201cmassive collapse\u201d in orders from Canada is the \u201csteepest single-year export disruption in modern US wine trade\u201d.<\/p>\n Government control of booze in Canada<\/p>\n Shoppers in Canadian supermarkets are now assailed by maple leaf adorned signs encouraging them to buy Canadian due to tariffs. Yet American products are still available.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s zero US booze. That\u2019s due to a quirk of the Canadian alcohol industry. <\/p>\n In most provinces, it is the government which is the buyer, wholesaler and main retailer of alcohol. <\/p>\n It\u2019s as if the only place anyone or any business could buy alcohol in Australia was Dan Murphy\u2019s, and Dan Murphy\u2019s was owned by the various states. <\/p>\n The bureaucratically named Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is one of the single largest buyers of alcohol in the world.<\/p>\n At an LCBO store near Toronto\u2019s giant Eaton Centre shopping hub, a sign in the window is direct. <\/p>\n \u201cFor the good of Canada,\u201d it reads. <\/p>\n \u201cIn response to the US tariffs products produced in the US are no longer available.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, wines from Australia abound; Ontario\u2019s own bustling wine industry, located close to Niagara Falls, is in abundance. Where there was once Jack Daniels, there is Canadian Club.<\/p>\n \u2018Will it change US behaviour?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThis may be a big deal in Canada, but it\u2019s small fry when it comes to the US,\u201d Prof Tombe said of the restrictions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US economy is 10 times larger. They also (export) a lot less and so that\u2019s an additional reason why these kind of measures only have limited effect.\u201d<\/p>\n He acknowledged that Kentucky and Tennessee bourbon makers and US west coast wine growers may be suffering, \u201cbut does that change US behaviour?\u201d<\/p>\n To be effective, said Prof Tombe, a boycott would have to target US swing states. If enough disgruntled Americans \u2013 who may have lost their jobs \u2013 turned their backs on Donald Trump, it could cause him to change his mind. But neither California nor Kentucky are swing states <\/p>\n US is angry <\/p>\n Even so, the White House has noticed and has raised \u201cserious concerns\u201d. <\/p>\n The Trump Administration has suggested Canada restock its shelves with American booze as a goodwill gesture ahead of imminent talks to renew or adjust the USCMA trade deal. <\/p>\n Mark Carney has bristled at that suggestion. <\/p>\n