Alberta lifts ban on American liquor imports — but local demand for U.S. booze isn't the same
CBC
The Alberta government has lifted its ban on American liquor imports, but that doesn't necessarily mean there will be more U.S. booze landing on shelves anytime soon.
Following the province's lifting of a three-month ban on American liquor imports, provincial alcohol regulator Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) announced on June 6 that it will once again accept liquor products from the United States.
But with a 25 per cent tariff on all American alcohol imports, the buy-local sentiment by Canadian consumers may not be going away anytime soon.
Andrew Ferguson, owner of Kensington Wine Market, said that after over two decades in the liquor business, he hasn't seen anything like the consumer backlash stemming from the Canada-U.S. trade war.
"If people aren't buying American products like they were before, they're not going to buy them at a premium," he said on price mark-ups due to tariffs.
He said that his store's American liquor sales, which prior to the trade war accounted for around 10 per cent of business, have plummeted.
With that in mind, Ferguson's not eager to make any major purchases from down south.
"When there's no certainty for us in terms of what our cost is going to be, whether people are even going to want it, it's difficult to make a decision, so you don't," he said.
"If people aren't buying them, we're not gonna restock them."
He called the lifting of the import ban "a non-decision in some ways," as even with the ban lifted, the 25 per cent tariff on U.S. alcohol imports is unlikely to motivate local importers to purchase American liquor.
"Margins in the liquor industry aren't huge for either the importers or the retailers," said Ferguson.
"Maybe if you're Jack Daniel's, you can afford to eat that tariff cost and you're going to want to probably have your products in stock for Stampede," he said. "But for a lot of the small and medium-sized players, it's going to be too much of a burden to eat that, so they'll just wait until this passes over."
Matt Stortz, general manager of Cork Fine Wine, Liquor & Ale in Calgary, said he doesn't expect the lifting of the import ban to have a significant impact on retail operations at his store.
He said that while demand for American liquor has noticeably dropped, U.S. products have remained on his shelves.
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