2025-04-07 3:11 PM >2025-04-07 6:23 PM
After Canada pulled American-made spirits off its shelves following President Donald Trump’s implementation of tariffs on Canadian imports, the CEO of Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniel’s whiskey and other liquors, blasted the move as “disproportionate.”
“That’s worse than a tariff because it’s literally taking your sales away,” said Lawson Whiting in an earnings call Wednesday, noting the “very disproportionate response” to the 25% tariffs applied this week.
Provinces across Canada have pulled American-made spirits, beer and wine off their shelves. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario said in a statement that it’s pushing shoppers to seek Canadian-made alternatives and that US products will remain off shelves until it’s “directed by the government to resume normal business.”
However, Lawson noted that Canada accounts for just 1% of the company’s total sales, so the company can “withstand” the losses. He’s also awaiting a response from Mexico, which was also slammed with a 25% across-the-board tariff, to see how the move affects business there, since it accounts for 7% Brown-Forman’s total sales.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), a trade group that represents spirits makers, has also been vocal in its displeasure about the tariffs.