Carney asks provinces to end bans on U.S. alcohol sales as part of trade deal

Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked Canadian provinces to end their bans on U.S. alcohol sales as part of a deal struck with American trade negotiators, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said on Wednesday night.

Donald Trump announced a “pause” on planned tariffs against a variety of Canadian goods that were scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday pending the completion of an agreement that is now working toward a Friday deadline.

As part of that deal, Houston told reporters after a call with Carney, provinces that have kept products from Kentucky bourbon to California wine off of store shelves since the U.S. President’s trade war began last year were requested to make them available for sale again.

Houston told reporters that he was willing to end Nova Scotia’s ban, pending a resolved deal.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has generally been in favour of strong trade action against the United States and has repeatedly complained about Trump’s behaviour toward a close ally, said last week that he would be willing to end his province’s ban as part of “a fair deal.”

That was a change from his long-held stance that he would only allow the LCBO to sell U.S. products once the Trump administration removed the tariffs that it imposed last year.

A spokesperson from the Premier’s Office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

In a statement Wednesday, Carney congratulated Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for their significant progress in negotiations.

“Canada entered these discussions with the best overall trade terms,” said Carney, in a post on X.

“We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship,” the prime minister added.

No terms of the tentative deal have been officially released, but reports on Wednesday said Canada would receive reduced, but not eliminated, tariff rates on steel, aluminum and auto parts that were imposed at the beginning of Trump’s trade war.

Trump has indicated that U.S. farmers would be “thrilled” with the deal as proposed, suggesting a possible end to Canada’s supply-management dairy system, but LeBlanc subsequently said on Wednesday that the Canadian approach would remain “entirely intact.”

The U.S. President has often announced deals or agreements on social media that turn out to be significantly different than his original statement.