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A Republican representative in Washington is retaliating against the Canadian provinces for retaliating against US President Donald Trump’s tariffs by banning the sale of American alcohol.
Claudia Tenney, a member of the House of Representatives whose district includes parts of northern New York, introduced a bill aimed at punishing Canada for the restrictions on the import of alcohol into the US imposed by eight state governments.
He calls his bill the Combating the Attack on National Alcoholic Beverages with Allies Act, or the CANADA Act.
“Canadian states cannot be allowed to take hostages of American wineries, liquor stores and try to rescue them,” Tenney said Monday in a statement on his website.
“American wineries, breweries, distilleries, and other beverage producers deserve fair access to Canadian markets, not discriminatory treatment from one of our closest trading partners,” said Tenney.
Tenney’s statement does not say what caused the states to be “treated with discrimination” for US alcohol: the high prices Trump has imposed on many Canadian exports and his general threats to make Canada the 51st state.
US exports of wine, beer and spirits to Canada are down by early 2025 due to provincial retaliation.
The US wine industry has called the fall “catastrophic” and recently published figures show the value of its exports to Canada from $460 million US in 2024 to $103 million US in 2025, a drop of 78 percent.
Wines are ‘damaged’ from Oregon to New York
WineAmerica, the national association of US wine producers, supports Tenney’s legislation.
“The loss of the Canadian market for our products has hurt wine producers from the Willamette Valley in Oregon to the Finger Lakes in New York. CANADA’s legislation is a positive step toward reopening that market to American wines,” WineAmerica executive director Michael Kaiser said in a statement.
CBC News requested an interview with Tenney on Monday morning, but his officials have not yet responded.
The provincial ban – which exists in all provinces except Alberta and Saskatchewan – is a talking point in ongoing trade negotiations between Canada and the US There seems to be little incentive for the prime minister or prime minister to see the ban lifted until Canada gets a trade deal that includes tax relief.
If enacted, Tenney’s legislation would direct US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office to investigate state liquor board restrictions on the importation and distribution of US products.
Under Section 301 of the Trade Act, USTR has the power to impose penalties — including tariffs or import restrictions — if an investigation finds that a foreign government is engaging in a discriminatory practice that “burdens or impedes” US trade.
In short, USTR doesn’t just conduct an investigation, it gets to determine the verdict and sentence.
Section 301 is the basis of the Trump administration’s current efforts to change global tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court in February.
A USTR investigation recently determined that 60 of America’s trading partners — including Canada and the European Union — are failing to do enough to keep forced labor out of their supply chains.
