Premier David Eby is standing firm on his government’s decision to keep American alcohol products off B.C. Liquor Store shelves.
“There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelf in British Columbia – and I’m proud of that, and I know that British Columbians support that.”
Eby was in Charlottetown Tuesday for the beginning of a three-day meeting of the Council of the Federation with other provincial and territorial leaders and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Obviously, the news of the day is the president’s recent decision to levy more tariffs on Canada for reasons known only to him,” he said.
On Monday (July 20), the White House announced 50-per-cent tariffs are coming on some Canadian products, such as alcohol, citing several Canadian provinces’ decision to remove U.S. booze from shelves.
A White House fact sheet on the new tariffs calls out these policies, noting that all but two Canadian provinces and territories have stopped the purchase, distribution and sale of U.S. alcoholic beverages at government stores.
“I think (Ontario Premier Doug Ford) and I are of a similar mind on this issue. The one way to embolden a bully is to capitulate, and I don’t think we should embolden Mr. Trump who clearly is a bully.”
The provincial government announced in March 2025 that it was ordering the removal of all American beer, wine, spirits and refreshment beverages from the shelves at B.C. Liquor Stores. Eby has said as recently as April that U.S. alcohol wouldn’t be back on shelves until softwood tariffs were eased.
The federal government, Eby said, hasn’t asked him to put U.S. alcohol back on shelves. He said he’s happy to speak with his counterparts across the country and Carney, “but the idea that, after facing yet another attack on our economy from the president, that this would be the moment to capitulate would be the wrong approach.”
Eby said the idea that U.S. President Donald Trump can bully British Columbians and Canadians “into whatever he wishes is incorrect.” He said Canada, “despite our many debates,” is united as a country and will continue to stand strong.
“I’ll say that this feels like an increasingly desperate and flailing approach to relationships with our country. There’s no question it will hurt families in British Columbia. It’ll hurt families that are connected with our wood manufacturing. It will hurt families that are connected with producing alcoholic beverages. It will hurt our economy in British Columbia.”
However, Eby said the latest move was “entirely predictable.”
“He will probably do it again, and there’s no reason to believe that this is the bottom in terms of where he’s willing to go.”
Eby said British Columbians and Canadians need to continue to work to diversify trade relationships. He pointed to trips to Asia in recent months and an agreement with Carney “that will deepen and increase the infrastructure needed for us to be able to participate in the global economy and be less dependent on the United States.”
“I think that Canada’s responses to U.S. trade attacks in the form of our own tariff responses can be a good way to send a message back to the United States, particularly the president who has exempted a number of categories knowing how dependent the U.S. is on those categories.”
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar, in an unrelated news conference in B.C. Tuesday, addressed the latest tariffs.
“It is continuing to be disappointing to see the depths the president will go to further alienate one of his largest trading partners.”
He added that it’s coming at the same time as “harmful and misguided rhetoric from certain U.S. officials, including the president, regarding Canadian wildfires” that Canada isn’t doing enough to manage its forests and wildfires.
Trump has said these latest tariffs are not a result of his comments on wildfire smoke and threatening sanctions.