The U.S. government’s decision to place tariffs on Canadian wine was a source of surprise for producers in Essex County – but not due to concerns. Wine will be slapped with a 50 per cent tariff as part of a new slate of levies announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday. “My first reaction was I was incredulous because there’s hardly any wine shipped out of Canada into the United States,” said Tom O’Brien, the co-owner and founder of Cooper’s Hawk Vineyards in Harrow. Concerns about acceptance and longstanding perceptions of Canadian wine are among the factors that keep producers from venturing into the American market, according to O’Brien. Cooper’s Hawk doesn’t sell wine to the U.S. and instead pushes products to LCBO locations and restaurants across Ontario. “It’s not a threat because it’s not going to hurt us,” O’Brien said. New tariffs are in part due to some provinces’ decision to remove American-made alcohol from their shelves. Since the decision was made last year, Cooper’s Hawk has seen a “huge change” in sales. “Our sales through the LCBO are up probably about 40 per cent over a year and a half ago,” O’Brien noted. “The long-term effect of that is people from outside of a region who may not be aware of us will try the wine, buy it, taste it and like it, and then they can order online.” Across Ontario, industry members have similarly thrown cold water on any fears winemakers will suffer significantly. The Ontario Craft Wineries (OCW) stated the levies will have a “small” impact if implemented. Steve Mitchell, vice-chair of the OCW and president of Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery, told CTV News that while some wineries sell into the U.S., it only makes up a very small fraction of their business. “The truth is that there’s not a lot of wine that’s sold into the U.S., and so if there’s not much to tariff, then there’s not much to lose,” Mitchell said. The Harrow-based winery previously sold products to one U.S. state, and saw “some success,” Mitchell noted. At the onset of U.S. tariffs, Mitchell said they elected to stop those sales because it lacked the “environment” to pitch Canadian wine. “We just agreed that it was a good time to kind of stop working on that, and in light of today’s news, I’m glad that we did,” Mitchell added. At the same time tariffs could land on the sector, the Ontario wine industry is continuing to see success and growth. Since U.S. liquor was pulled from LCBO shelves, sales of Ontario Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wines have grown by 44 per cent. Mitchell added the increase in demand is due to several factors, including government support. “I do think there’s a small portion that’s increased interest in Canadian products and looking to support Ontario and Canada. There is an element of the products not being available,” he said. “So people searching for new alternatives, and then the largest part of why Ontario wines are doing so well is the increased shelf space allocations in grocery and convenience.”
