All U.S. alcohol to be removed from B.C. store shelves

Premier David Eby says B.C. will be removing all United States alcohol from store shelves.

It comes after B.C. initially removed all red-state liquor from its shelves last week.

“Since then, we have seen a threat of additional tariffs on the dairy industry, an investigation into our lumber industry by the president with the aim of adding even more tariffs. And disturbing articles in the New York Times and other places about the president threatening to redraw our borders and pursue Canadian waters,” Eby explained on Monday.

The removal of all alcohol — including wine, beer, and spirits — from B.C. shelves is in direct response to the increased threats.

“We’re doing this for a couple reasons. One, is to respond to the escalating threats that we’re seeing from the United States,” Eby explained. “The other, is to recognize the feeling that many British Columbians have now when we look at American products, we don’t even want to see them on the shelf anymore.”

“I have received many emails and letters and interactions with people who they don’t even want to see American products right now in our government liquor stores, and so we’re sending that strong message,” he added.

Eby explained that the initial move to only remove red-state liquor was in part to pressure Republican-led states to pressure the President Donald Trump administration to remove the tariffs.

“It worked. We saw the head of Jack Daniels say that what we were doing was worse than a tariff. I guess that’s what you call a ‘proof point,’” he said.

“But for British Columbians, and certainly for myself as well, to see the President explicitly threatened to redraw the border, to come after our water, to add even further punitive tariffs to our softwood lumber industry and dairy industries, and to see it accelerate, it’s hard to see American products on the shelf in our government liquor stores. And so the BC Liquor Distribution Branch is stopping the purchase of American products.”

Eby explained that the removal of all alcohol will help pressure other U.S. leaders to urge Trump to remove the tariffs.

“We’re going to be encouraging Republican and Democrat elected officials to be more aggressive in defending Canada’s sovereignty, stepping up and speaking out against the President’s ruinous economic policy that is not just threatening Canadian families, but is threatening in a very real way, the stability of the American economy with the chaos and uncertainty that he has brought and that we get back to a place of building up each other’s prosperity,” he said.

Eby also said the province will be scaling up its previously announced fees for trucks going through Washington to Alaska, with private vehicles to now be tolled, too.

“In the coming days, [we’ll be] introducing legislation to enable us to add tariffs to vehicles travelling from Washington state to Alaska. We’ll be working with the federal government in supporting their continued tariff response against the Americans, as well as with premiers across the country, including to remove internal trade barriers to grow our economy,” he explained.

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