Elbows up in 2025: How a year of Canadian boycotts on U.S. products played out

It became a rallying cry, a cultural touchstone, a marketing strategy and — our favourite — often described in international media as "a hockey term" or "a Canadian phrase."

We are, of course, referring to "Elbows Up," Gordie Howe's signature move to ward off opponents.

The 2025 #ElbowsUp movement may have started as a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to annex Canada, but it also came to symbolize the boycott of U.S. products as Trump's tariffs launched a cross-border trade war.

Over the course of the year, Canadians have deliberately tried to spend their money closer to home, boycotting everything from U.S. booze and streaming services to Disney vacations, joining 1.4-million-member strong Facebook groups and downloading apps to avoid U.S. products.

Here are a few of the ways Canadians tried to put more power behind their purchase and travel choices in 2025 — and how those decisions may have impacted the U.S. economy.

Back in February, provinces pulled millions of dollars' worth of U.S. wine and spirits from store shelves in response to Trump’s decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods.

Saskatchewan and Alberta resumed selling U.S. wine and spirits in June, and since the end of October, many provinces have made some of their U.S. inventory available again — although Ontario's government has no plans to join suit.

But did the move make a difference? Well, overall exports of American spirits fell nine per cent in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

The most dramatic decrease came in U.S. spirits exports to Canada, which fell 85 per cent in the second quarter, dropping below $10 million US.

The spirits council added that sales of U.S. spirits in Canada declined 68 per cent in April, whereas sales of Canadian and other imported spirits each rose about 3.6 per cent.

The report also explained that the international market is especially critical for U.S. whisky producers, which are facing stagnating domestic sales and record-high inventory levels.

The spirits council hasn't yet released its year-end data, but it has data for exports to Canada up to the end of September.

According to the data, bottled exports of bourbon whisky to Canada from January to September dropped about 60 per cent compared with a year earlier, or from 41.3 million to 16.4 million units.

Exports of bottled or bulk rum to Canada from January to September decreased 49 per cent compared with the same period last year, while exports of brandy fell 67 per cent, gin exports declined 76 per cent, and vodka and cordial exports each dropped 71 per cent.