Opinion: A 50 per cent tariff is a wall — and a wake-up call for Canadian wine

When a British Columbian chooses to buy wine, our public policies and retail systems should give a local producer every reasonable opportunity to compete for that purchase, writes Jeff Guignard. Photo by David Szabo /Vancouver Sun

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Canada-U.S. trade talks have broken down, and a new 50 per cent U.S. tariff on a range of Canadian goods, including wine, is now in force.

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That is deeply disappointing. We wanted a negotiated solution, and we still hope diplomacy eventually prevails. But Canada was right not to accept a bad deal simply for the sake of having one.

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For Canadian wine, the immediate impact requires some perspective. The U.S. is not our largest market. Most Canadian wine is consumed here at home. But for individual wineries that have spent years building relationships with American importers, distributors, restaurants and consumers, a tariff of this magnitude can effectively put a wall around that market. Those businesses will need support.

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The bigger lesson extends far beyond exports. We cannot control the decisions made in Washington. We can only control what we do here at home.

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And if access to our largest international trading partner is becoming less predictable, then Canada needs to become much more deliberate about building its domestic economy and making it easier for Canadian businesses to sell to Canadians.

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Wine is a perfect example.

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A recent Deloitte analysis commissioned by Wine Growers Canada estimates that Canada’s wine industry and its broader ecosystem contribute $10.1 billion to national GDP and sustain about 99,300 full-time-equivalent jobs annually.

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Those numbers reflect something important: Wine is not simply a product on a retail shelf.

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Behind a bottle of Canadian wine is an economic chain that begins in a vineyard and reaches agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, tourism, and rural communities.

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There is also substantial room to grow.

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Canadian-made or blended wine accounted for just 28.8 per cent of domestic wine sales in 2023-24. Deloitte estimates that if Canadian wine reached a 51 per cent domestic market share over time, the wine industry and its broader ecosystem could contribute an additional $3.6 billion to GDP annually.

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That is a major economic opportunity already sitting inside our own borders. We should pursue it.

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First, Canada needs to finish the job of removing interprovincial trade barriers. Recent progress toward direct-to-consumer wine sales across provincial borders is significant, but implementation needs to be simple. A Canadian should be able to order Canadian wine from another province without unnecessary fees, markups or administrative hurdles.

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Second, provincial liquor systems should be part of our economic-development strategy.

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In B.C., that means modernizing the mandate of the Liquor Distribution Branch.

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The LDB should continue generating responsible and sustainable revenue for government. But it should also have a clear responsibility to support the growth and competitiveness of B.C. producers.

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That means better access to markets, stronger merchandising and promotion of local products, clearer identification of B.C. wine, measurable objectives, and senior accountability for growing the domestic category.

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This is not about keeping American wine off our shelves forever. It is not about restricting consumer choice. And it is certainly not about asking Canadians to consume more alcohol.