{"id":863267,"date":"2026-08-19T03:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/863267\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T03:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:22:15","slug":"n-w-t-premier-ready-to-put-american-booze-on-shelves-for-a-good-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/863267\/","title":{"rendered":"N.W.T. premier ready to put American booze on shelves for a \u2018good deal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

As Canadian and U.S. officials try to hammer out a last-minute deal to avoid crippling tariffs and to lower existing ones, one northern leader says he’s ready to do his part \u2013 including by putting American booze back on shelves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson says he has one condition: any new trade deal has to be good for Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t want to give concessions just to be at the table,\u201d Simpson told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new 50-per-cent tariffs on some $28-billion worth of Canadian products will affect electronics, dairy, alcohol and wood. These are additional tariffs on top of existing U.S. trade sanctions, and are set to take effect just after midnight Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The federal government has told provinces and territories to be ready as soon as possible to reverse their boycott of U.S. alcohol<\/a> in case a tariff deal is reached, sources have told CBC News.<\/p>\n

Simpson says that concession is conditional on whether the deal has reliefs for tariffs on industrial products like steel, lumber, aluminium and auto parts \u2014 which currently range from 10 to 50 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout that, I don’t expect that the provinces would be on board,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n

The premiers of Nunavut and the Yukon did not confirm whether they would also reverse their U.S. alcohol boycotts. They told CBC News they\u2019re awaiting results of the negotiations to figure out next steps.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A‘We don’t want to give concessions just to be at the table,’ said Simpson (Carla Ulrich\/CBC)<\/p>\n

In a news conference Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said talks with U.S. officials had been \u201cintense\u201d and \u201cdelicate.\u201d He also said Canada is prepared for all outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simpson said in his recent conversations with the prime minister, he has felt confident in Ottawa\u2019s approach to negotiations. He says he reiterated the commitments to Indigenous governments in procurement policies multiple times in his conversations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always come out of those updates feeling really good about our situation in Canada,\u201d Simpson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Short and long-term impacts<\/p>\n

Most exports from the three territories won\u2019t be affected by the new tariffs. According to federal figures from the Library of Parliament, the majority of N.W.T. and Nunavut exports go to countries in Europe.<\/p>\n

Simpson says even though the territory is not directly impacted by some of the tariffs, costs have gone up with existing tariffs. He says if a deal isn\u2019t reached, it will further damage the N.W.T. economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[The tariffs] are bad for the Americans who actually pay those costs, and they’re bad for the Canadians who also see increased costs when things go back and forth across the border,\u201d Simpson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re already feeling the impact of the initial tariffs in terms of the cost of bringing equipment to the territory for things like mining operations, obviously the impact on diamonds,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 90 per cent of all exports from the Yukon go to the U.S., although most goods being sent south are minerals and are exempt from the latest round of tariffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Threat of new U.S. tariffs has municipalities bracing for impact :\"\"<\/p>\n

Threat of new U.S. tariffs has municipalities bracing for impact<\/p>\n

Unless officials can reach a deal with U.S. lawmakers, new U.S. tariffs against Canada are scheduled to go into effect at midnight on Aug. 19, affecting a wide range of goods from dairy products to hockey equipment. The CBC\u2019s David Fraser reports.<\/p>\n

In Nunavut, Udlu Hanson, president of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, says she’s worried the new proposed tariffs would make the trade war worse, especially when Canada retaliates with counter-tariffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She says escalations could shake consumer and investor confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does mean that it’s more difficult to bid on projects. It’s more difficult to have certainty around your budgets,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really does have an effect in the very short term, but also in the longer term.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, even as the clock ticked closer to Wednesday’s midnight deadline, Hanson said she was confident Canada is prepared to respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’ve been able to weather the storm before and I think we’re going to be able to do it again,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Carney, Trump speak as Canada stares down 50%tariffs:<\/p>\n

Power & Politics: Election Daily45:24Carney, Trump speak as Canada stares down 50% tariffs<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump speak by phone as both sides try to hammer out a trade deal. Will new 50 per cent U.S. tariffs come into force at midnight, or will Canada be able to avoid them? Power & Politics has the latest insights from Jean Charest, former premier of Quebec and member of the prime minister’s advisory council on Canada-U.S. economic relations. Plus, the Power Panel debates Canada’s options if the tariffs do come into force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-863267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}