U.S. executive order severs relationship-building with B.C. wine

From left, Lauren Skinner with her parents, John and Trish Skinner, who founded and own Painted Rock Estate Winery, at the vineyard in Penticton.

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B.C. wineries do not sell much wine to the American market, which makes the executive order U.S. President Donald Trump signed Tuesday barring the import of Canadian alcohol mostly symbolic for most producers.

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However, this escalation in the Canada-U.S. trade war comes at an inopportune time, with the Okanagan attracting the attention this summer of influential wine critic James Suckling, who has a substantial American following.

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So instead of making inroads south of the border, wineries such as Penticton’s Painted Rock Estate Winery find themselves out in the cold.

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“It’s really more about brand,” said Lauren Skinner, Painted Rock’s managing director. “To be taken seriously here at home, you need to be written up by U.S. writers, and you need to be entering competitions and that kind of thing.”

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That made Suckling’s visit, with the glowing reviews of Okanagan Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling wines he published in June, all that more important, because “that’s where the world is watching,” Skinner added.

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Skinner last spoke to Postmedia in July when Trump first threatened 50 per cent tariffs on wine, as she suspected their California importer would likely stop buying. On Wednesday, she added that she hadn’t made contact with the company in the last 24 hours, but “that’s sort of a moot point.”

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“I’m tired and I am frustrated to be in the middle of a geopolitical dispute,” Skinner said. She added that however nominal a penalty it is for B.C. wine producers, she understands it is a “pain point” for the U.S.

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Trump singled out alcohol because of the restrictions that eight provinces, including B.C., Ontario and Quebec, put on U.S. booze imports by pulling American products off provincial liquor store shelves.

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In July, Trump claimed the restrictions cost the U.S. more than $500 million US in exports to Canada to justify ramping up tariffs. However, with the breakdown in trade talks and Canada’s round of retaliatory counter-tariffs, he escalated to an outright ban, which takes effect Sept. 29.

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Going in the opposite direction, the province estimates B.C. exports between $200,000 to $700,000 worth of wine to the U.S., which “shows that this is not serious economic policy,” according to Jeff Guignard, CEO of Wine Growers of B.C.

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“But the principle of this is enormously significant,” Guignard added. “We had an open market a month ago, then we had 50 per cent tariffs, and now we have complete prohibition.”

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Guignard said Canada’s total exports to the U.S. might be $10 million per year, but with B.C. trying to get on the map as “the world’s next great wine region,” it is important that wines from the province be available in the U.S.