LCBO wine sales fall as U.S. imports to Canada plunge 94%

Hamilton Spectator

6 hours ago

The spring of 2025 may be the first time that many Canadian wine-loving families have gone without a California red on their dinner table.
As the largest export market for U.S. wines, Canada has seen imports come to a complete standstill amid
a prevailing 'Buy Canada' sentiment
, following U.S. President
Donald Trump
's tariffs on his country's once closest ally,
new Statistics Canada data shows.
In April, the value of American wine imports plummeted to $2.9 million — a 94-per-cent drop from $53 million during the same period last year. Canada imported a monthly average value of American wines of $49.5 million in 2024, with the highest being last November at $73 million.
Booze from our southern neighbour has not only been hit by the federal government's retaliatory tariffs, but has also faced bans and sales restrictions imposed by provincial and territorial governments, including removal from the shelves of Ontario liquor stores.
And with American wines off the shelves, Ontarians appear to be drinking less wine overall.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario says total wine sales fell 13 per cent from early March to early June compared to the same period last year. The LCBO attributes the drop to several factors, including a trend toward moderation and the rising popularity of ready-to-drink beverages, but the agency did not mention the ban on U.S. alcohol.
The impact has been felt across the California wine industry, which produces more than 90 per cent of the U.S.'s wine exports, said Natalie Collins, the president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
'Many wineries are not purchasing grapes from growers because they don't know if they're going to be able to off-load the current case goods that they have,' she said, adding that it is 'very unfortunate' that growers and wineries have been swept up as collateral damage in the Trump administration's
trade war
.
The Canadian market is one where California wineries have invested for decades — building relationships with business owners and travelling coast to coast, said Honore Comfort, vice-president of international marketing at Wine Institute, which is an advocacy association of California wineries, in an email to the Star.
'We remain committed to that partnership and hopeful for the day we can return and be fully present in the Canadian market,' Comfort said.
Michael Kaiser, executive vice-president of Wine America, said that in addition to the impacts being felt in California, wineries in Washington, Oregon and New York — all blue states — also expect revenue losses, with some producing wines specifically labelled for the Canadian market.
While many could absorb the 25 per cent counter-tariffs, Kaiser said it was the individual provinces pulling products from shelves that truly hurt U.S. producers.
'We've been very clear with our government here about how important the Canadian market is,' said Kaiser. 'It's our hope that this can be resolved without a further escalation.'
Last week, Alberta and Saskatchewan appeared to soften their hardline stance by announcing they would resume purchasing U.S. alcohol, while Ontario and Nova Scotia continue to stand their ground.
The news feels largely 'symbolic,' said Scott Adair, the president of The Wine Syndicate, a B.C.-based importer, which has not placed any new orders in Alberta, citing demand for U.S. wine as down about 80 per cent from the same period last year.
'Even if we were able to import, we wouldn't, because the market for American wine has completely collapsed,' Adair said. He says he still has $325,000 worth of American wine in B.C. that he can't sell and is accumulating storage fees.
Paul Speck, the president of FWM Canada, an Ontario-based alcohol importer, echoed the sentiment and said he continues to hear the 'loud and clear messages' from restaurants and retailers that customers are not interested in American products.
Speck also owns the family winery Henry of Pelham in Niagara Falls, where sales of his red Cabernet Merlot rose sharply after California wines were pulled from shelves.
LCBO says wines made from Ontario-grown grapes, known as VQA wines, have seen sales rise by more than 60 per cent, while Australian and New Zealand wines have also experienced a bump in sales since the removal of U.S. products.
Adair expects that even if tariffs are lifted in the coming months, brand damage to U.S. wines will linger for two to three years due to lasting shifts in consumer behaviour toward wines from other regions.
'As long as Trump keeps talking about Canada's 51st state, you're still going to see that consumer backlash against American wines and spirits.'