Jack Daniels got caught in the trade war

A Jack and Coke in Canada is now just “a Coke.” In response to new tariffs on Canadian imports, state-affiliated liquor stores across Canada pulled US-produced liquor off their shelves this week.

Canadian officials in Ontario, British Columbia, and other provinces urged liquor stores to cease imports of US spirits and push shoppers toward Canadian-made alternatives, even though a “Caribou Crossing and Coke” doesn’t roll off the tongue.

The move drew ire from Lawson Whiting, CEO of Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman. In an earnings call on Wednesday, he said that Canada pulling US alcohol off the shelves is “worse than a tariff.”

• He called the move a “disproportionate” reaction and said, “It’s literally taking your sales away.”
• Whiting also noted that Canada only accounts for 1% of the company’s sales, so it can “withstand” the boycott.

Bad vibes for the Bourbon Belt. Kentucky exported $76 million of whiskey and other spirits to Canada in 2023, according to Canada’s Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “We’re the largest purchaser of bourbon in the world for Kentucky bourbon manufacturers,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this week. “They’re done. They’re gone.”