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MONTREAL — Quebec’s finance minister says he has asked the province’s liquor board to pull all U.S. products off its shelves by Tuesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
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Eric Girard says the Societe des alcools du Quebec has also been asked to stop supplying American products to grocery stores, bars and restaurants.
Girard says the move is a reaction to what he called unjustified tariffs, adding that other measures will follow.
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Quebec Premier Francois Legault confirmed in a post on X Sunday that the products would be off the shelves by Tuesday, adding that the province is doing everything it can to protect the economy and workers.
The liquor board’s 2024 annual report said that American still wines represented about 6.8 per cent of the province’s market share, trailing far behind wines from Italy and France.
Legault said Saturday that he has also asked the head of the province’s treasury board to look at penalizing American suppliers that bid on public calls for tender in the province, in proportion to the U.S. tariffs.
“Our first choice was always to avoid a trade conflict with our main partner. But Mr. Trump decided to attack us,” Legault wrote in French in a Saturday night X post.
The premier said the coming months would be difficult for some Quebec’s industries, and warned of potential job losses. However, he said the trade war could also present an opportunity to grow domestic industries, and said the government would consider increasing infrastructure investments to offset some of the potential job losses.
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“We didn’t wish for this trade war, but we are capable of defending ourselves and we are capable of overcoming this crisis and coming out even stronger,” he wrote.
“We will protect ourselves and we will fight!”
Treasury Board Chair Sonia LeBel confirmed in a post on X Saturday that she is examining the premier’s request to penalize U.S. bidders, and said more information would follow.
Several other provinces including Ontario and B.C. have also announced that they’re removing American alcohol from provincial retailers’ shelves.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2025.
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