U.S.-made alcohol products will remain on LCBO shelves after tariffs postponed

American whisky is pictured on LCBO store shelves on Feb. 3, 2025. (Courtney Heels/ CP24)

Jack Daniel’s whisky, Bacardi rum, and California wines will remain on LCBO shelves and restaurant menus as Ontario’s boycott of U.S. alcohol products was put on hold after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced tariffs on Canada have been delayed for 30 days.

Prior to the announcement, bars and restaurants had been handed a list of more than 300 products that would no longer be available for purchase from the LCBO, the province’s liquor wholesaler.

“Effective no later than February 4, 2025, spirits, wine, beer, ready-to-drink coolers/cocktails, and non-alcoholic products produced in the U.S. will no longer be available in our retail stores, eCommerce channels, or LCBO Convenience Outlets,” the LCBO had said in a statement released Sunday.

“Wholesale customers, including grocery and convenience stores, bars, restaurants, and other retailers, will no longer be able to place orders of U.S. products.”

Now, restaurants will have until March 1 to see if they will have to stop selling American-made alcoholic beverages while Trudeau works with President Donald Trump to keep the tariffs at bay.

Ahead of the delay, some businesses said they would keep serving U.S. liquor products until they ran out, Kris Barnier, Restaurants Canada’s Central Canada vice-president, told CP24.com on Monday.

“Some will proactively make the call to pull stock from their shelves. For others, it really is a cash flow issue and they are sitting on stock so they’ll deplete what they have before and then eventually they will move to other Canadian products,” he said.

Some of the key products that restaurants and bars would have no longer had access to included American-made whiskies like Jim Beam and Jack Daniel’s, both of which are produced in Tennessee. U.S.-produced rum, including Kraken and Sailor Jerry, as well as Sour Puss Raspberry Liqueur would have also been discontinued at the LCBO.

“It is pretty significant,” Barnier said.

“On the beer side, very little of it is coming in, so you are not going to feel the impact on beer. It is going to be a select group of spirits.”

It is unclear what the LCBO plans to do with its massive inventory of California wines should tariffs resume and they are forced to remove them from store shelves.

“For restaurants and bars, what this is also going to mean is some element of having to rejig their menus,” Barnier said. “There could be some pricing implications.”

He said many customers were already expressing interest in pivoting to Canadian-made products even without an order from the province.

“Restaurants are telling us that they are hearing that from consumers,” Barnier said.

“When you talk to most of these restaurant owners, you are going to find a pretty patriotic bunch and they want to do their part too. It is one part being responsive to customers, but it is also doing their own thing to support team Canada.”

Boycott creates opportunity for Ontario wine producers

Michelle Wasylyshen, president and CEO of Ontario Craft Wineries, which represents 120 wineries across the province, said the situation would have created an opportunity to put more VQA Ontario wines in front of Canadian customers.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to get more of our VQA Ontario wines onto store shelves, into bars and restaurants and ultimately into the hands of consumers,” she said.

“There is an imbalance of trade when it comes to wine. Canada does not export any significant amount of wine into the United States, but we are the largest export market for U.S. wine by far. Simply put, Mr. Trump can’t hurt the Canadian wine industry in the same way that Canada can hurt the U.S. wine industry.