U.S. booze ban would lead to lost B.C. tax dollars, says industry insider

As Premier David Eby threatens a ban on American alcohol in retaliation to proposed U.S. tariffs, one liquor industry insider is warning British Columbia could lose a lot of tax dollars.

“American imports are a huge part of our business,” said Darryl Lamb, brand manager for Legacy Liquor Store in Vancouver, which bills itself as the largest privately-owned liquor store in the province.

“There are massive wine sales, American bourbon is on fire, it has never been more popular. We just had our whisky release and people were lining up at 2 in the morning to make sure they could get their hands on these super rare bourbons,” he told CityNews.

“And American whiskey, gin, American wine are huge tax revenue [generators] for British Columbians that help pay for healthcare, infrastructure and education.”

Eby suggested on Tuesday the province could stop buying and selling American liquor if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian exports to the States.

Eby indicated a booze ban could be part of B.C.’s three-part response plan, including retaliatory tariffs, targeted tariffs, and specific embargos.

As B.C. is one of the “biggest purchasers” of American booze, Eby says it would “definitely send a message.”

But Lamb predicts that if the provincial government puts an embargo on American alcohol, B.C. consumers would just simply look for it outside the province.

“I think what we will end up seeing is more cross-border shopping. If Canadians can’t get their favourite American whiskeys or gins, people will end up going down to Washington to buy that stuff … Also, Alberta is not going to ban these bourbons, so British Columbians are just going to go online and order those products in.”

He argues that will mean tax dollars for Alberta that otherwise would have gone to Victoria, while the Trump administration wouldn’t even blink.

“All that money will leave British Columbia. It won’t even affect the Americans because the sales will just move to Alberta. Their healthcare system, their education system, their infrastructure will all benefit from all of those millions of British Columbian dollars moving over to Alberta because Alberta is not going to ban those products,” he said.

“It really doesn’t do anything but cut our own nose off to spite our face.”

Because the government is the only body that can buy and then distribute alcohol to private companies in B.C., the move would amount to a blanket ban.

With files from Srushti Gangdev.