A new round of trade tensions between Canada and the United States could put the brakes on a local distillery’s plans to expand south of the border.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday banning the imports of certain Canadian goods, including alcoholic beverages, later this month.
The move comes after Canada’s new counter-tariffs on American products took effect on Tuesday, shortly after midnight.
For Wolfhead Distillery in Amherstburg, the timing is especially frustrating as the local business has been working to grow its presence in the U.S.
Danielle Moldovan, Wolfhead’s Director of Marketing and Business Development, says the distillery has been selling its popular coffee whisky liqueur in Michigan since 2022.
Moldovan says they will be impacted by the new tariff on alcohol.
“In the short term, it doesn’t affect us. So we were really fortunate to ship some product over to Michigan a couple weeks ago to miss those U.S. tariffs. But what’s going to happen in the long run is it’ll suspend all the work that we’ve done. It’ll make it difficult for us to grow what we’ve already started in the U.S. if we can’t get our product over there.”
She says they’ve been exploring opportunities to expand into other states, including Georgia and South Carolina, but it’s unclear what will happen now.
“I definitely think it will stop that momentum. It’s hard to say. We’ve had meetings with other U.S. states who want to bring Wolfhead in, but if we’re not able to ship their product over there, I mean, we were only able to send so much for this last batch. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
She says it was frustrating to hear about these new tariffs because they love the U.S. and want to continue that relationship.
“We’re a small operation here. We’re a small team. And so when you’re wearing a lot of hats and one of your hats is the U.S. bucket, it’s sad to see that there might be some delays in the work that we can do. Especially because people can change their brand minds in an instant. And so we really want to try and keep those relationships.”
Moldovan says they’ve been very fortunate to have increase support closer to home, with more tourists and local customers visiting the distillery.
She says while the distillery remains committed to building relationships in the U.S., the latest trade restrictions could delay years of work.
The U.S. ban on certain Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, is set to take effect September 29th.
-with files from CTV News Windsor’s Robert Lothian