WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – More than a year after a number of Canadian provinces pulled American alcohol from store shelves, North Country Rep. Claudia Tenney is calling for an investigation into what she calls unfair trade practices.
Tenney, a Republican who represents the 24th Congressional District — which includes Watertown and part of Jefferson County — introduced the Combating Attacks on our National Alcoholic Drinks by Allies (CANADA) Act on Monday.
What the legislation would do
The bill would direct the U.S. Trade Representative to launch a Section 301 investigation “into the Canadian provinces’ discriminatory restrictions on the importation and distribution of American alcoholic beverages through provincial liquor boards.”
If the USTR finds that a foreign government’s actions are unfair, it can take action such as imposing new tariffs or trade restrictions.
Tenney’s news release said the CANADA Act builds on comments from U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, “who stated that resolving the Canadian provinces’ discriminatory treatment of American alcohol producers would likely require an enforcement action.”
“Canadian provinces cannot be allowed to hold American wineries, breweries, and distilleries hostage and attempt to ransom them,” Tenney said in the release. “American wineries, breweries, distilleries, and other beverage producers deserve fair access to Canadian markets, not discriminatory treatment from one of our closest trading partners.”
Background on the provincial bans
Beginning in February 2025, many Canadian provinces banned the sale of American alcohol in response to President Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian goods. A lot of Canadians were already boycotting American products after Trump repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state.
7 News visited Kingston, Ontario, in March 2025 after Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered American alcohol off store shelves.
“Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers,” Ford posted on X at the time. “Not anymore.”
Industry impact
Since the provincial bans began, the American alcohol industry has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in export revenue.
The Wine Institute, the public policy advocacy association for more than 1,000 California wineries, reported this past March that “2025 data now confirms this is the most catastrophic single-year trade disruption in the history of U.S. wine exports.”
The Wine Institute, the American Craft Spirits Association and WineAmerica all support Tenney’s legislation.
WineAmerica is quoted in Tenney’s news release as saying, “Losing the Canadian market for our products has hurt wineries from Willamette Valley in Oregon to the Finger Lakes in New York. The CANADA Act is a good step to re-opening that market to American wines.”
ACSA CEO Emily Pennington is also quoted in the release: “For too long, America’s craft distillers have been caught in the middle of a trade dispute that has nothing to do with them. We appreciate Congresswoman Tenney’s leadership in bringing renewed attention to the discriminatory treatment of U.S. craft spirits in Canada and hope this legislation encourages serious negotiations that restore fair market access for American producers.”
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