The LCBO website was down on Tuesday as Ontario Premier Doug Ford fulfilled a promise to remove all U.S. products from store shelves in response to Donald Trump’s country-wide tariffs.
Ford’s office confirmed that he directed the LCBO this morning to stop selling American alcohol.
The LCBO website says it was “temporarily unavailable while we remove U.S. products in response to tariffs on Canadian goods.” In-store customer service remains unaffected.
“As part of Ontario’s response strategy to U.S. tariffs, the government of Ontario has directed LCBO to take operational steps to implement restrictions on all U.S. beverage alcohol sales and related imports into Ontario, effective immediately,” an LCBO spokesperson said in an email to CityNews.
“LCBO has ceased the purchase of all U.S. products, retail customers are no longer able to purchase U.S. products on lcbo.com and the LCBO app, and wholesale customers, including grocery and convenience stores, bars, restaurants, and other retailers, are no longer able to place orders of U.S. products online.”
Spirits, wine, cider, beer, ready-to-drink coolers/cocktails, and non-alcoholic products produced in the U.S. will no longer be available in LCBO stores or LCBO Convenience Outlets.
Ford said Monday that the LCBO buys about $1 billion of U.S. alcohol yearly. He also indicated that he’s prepared to follow through with previously announced measures to respond to Trump’s tariffs.
Ontario’s premier appeared on CNN on Tuesday morning, addressing the latest round of tariffs.
“I will use every tool in our toolbox to send a message to Donald Trump that this is the wrong thing to do,” Ford said on CNN. “[Canadians] are livid. We look at the United States as our family… We love the American people, but unfortunately, the President has gone sideways.”
Tariffs went into effect on Tuesday
Ford told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that the province will slap a 25 per cent export tax on the electricity it sends to the U.S. Ford told the news publication that if Trump proceeds with additional tariffs on April 2, he will instruct the province’s energy producers to halt exports entirely.
Ford was among the Canadian premiers that made a similar promise regarding U.S. alcohol products in February when news of Trump’s tariffs first emerged, initially intended to come on Feb. 2. Those measures were paused after Trump put the tariffs on hold until March 3.
Ontario and Ford also announced at the time that the province was ripping up a $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to deliver high-speed internet to remote areas via Starlink satellite technology.
Trump said yesterday he’ll put 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods starting Tuesday.
Trump has framed the tariffs as his way of tackling his concerns about security at American borders, including the flow of fentanyl. U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show less than one per cent of all fentanyl seized comes from the northern border.
When Trump was last president, he imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.
Canada retaliated with 10 per cent duties on its own basket of goods, including American whiskey and bourbon.
