Alberta liquor businesses brace for 50% U.S. tariffs as trade tensions escalate

Alberta liquor businesses are bracing for impact after the U.S. Trump administration threatened 50 percent tariffs on Canadian alcohol products, set to take effect August 19, 2026.

Adam Smith, founder and master distiller at Strathcona Spirits in Edmonton, said his plans to ship products to Florida and Washington are now on hold. He called for Alberta to stop allowing imports of American liquor in retaliation. "The government should support Alberta producers by taking action against this action against Alberta producers," Smith said. "Do the logical response of restricting U.S. alcohol sales."

Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only provinces without bans on U.S. alcohol products.

Bryce Parsons, president of the Alberta Craft Distillers Association and CEO of Calgary-based True Wild Distilling, said the tariffs would limit options for small producers. "It really starts wiping out a market — and a big market — that could be quite lucrative for us," Parsons said. "So we have to start pivoting to other places as well and start finding other countries, which eventually takes time and effort there."

Store owners importing American products face different pressures. David Owens, owner of Edmonton's Sherbrooke Liquor, said trade uncertainty with the U.S. has become routine over the past year and a half. "They're off and on and off, on and off, on and off, all the time," Owens said of tariff threats. "So until it happens, there's nothing really to worry about."

The Trump administration cited "Canada's discriminatory treatment of American products" as the reason for the move announced Monday.