Why provinces are using booze to fight back in Trumps trade war [Video]

The dozens of Kentucky bourbons listed on the BC Liquor Stores website range from a two-ounce bottle of Maker’s Mark, priced at $5.29, to a $2,400 bottle of Woodford Reserve, aged in cognac barrels and presented in a crystal decanter.

What they all have in common is the “currently unavailable” designation, having been yanked from sale by British Columbia’s government in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports.

Calling time on U.S. alcohol has been a popular move among Canadian provincial and territorial governments looking for ways to fight back in the trade war.

It’s a way of capitalizing on government control over the alcohol sector, says Samuel Roscoe, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.

He said B.C. and other provinces are using their jurisdiction over alcohol sales to damage the pocketbooks of American companies and send a message that the U.S. tariffs are unjustified and harmful on both sides of the border.