Premier Wab Kinew announced Sunday that Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation will stop selling products imported from the United States in response to a 25 per cent tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian goods that will kick in on Tuesday.
Starting Feb. 4, staff at the province’s Liquor Marts will be directed to pull American products off the shelves and will stop ordering alcohol from the U.S., the premier told reporters at a news conference Sunday.
Kinew said the halt of American alcohol sales in Manitoba alone will pull $80 million annually from the U.S. economy.
“This is a trade dispute, this is an economic threat, but we should also be very clear-eyed about the threat this poses to our sovereignty as an independent country,” Kinew said.
Kinew added Manitoba has taken action in regards to security in the U.S.-Manitoba border and has brought “the hammer down to drug traffickers” in response to demands from Trump that he says also align with the province’s values.
But “if we bow down at this current moment, what is the next edict that we will be told to respond to as Manitobans and Canadians?” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced late Saturday the federal government will fight back against Trump by slapping 25 per cent tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods coming into Canada as of Tuesday.
The tariffs will then be applied to another $125 billion worth of American imports in three weeks’ time, Trudeau said.
Kinew said Mantioba fully supports the measures taken by the federal government in response to the U.S. levy.
“This is going to be … a multi-year situation,” he said. “We are going to be making some tough decisions.”
Paired with the restriction of alcohol, the province said support for businesses and workers will be announced throughout next week.
Further measures will be introduced into the upcoming spring budget to re-orient the economy toward business that bolsters Manitoba’s economy, Kinew said, but didn’t offer specifics other than pointing out the need to strengthen the mining, energy and technology sectors.
While businesses are on the front lines of the trade war, Kinew said the impacts could be far reaching, and raises the question of having enough resources to pay for public services including health care and schools.
“This is a serious situation,” the premier said.
“We have no quarrel with the American people, these are still our friends and neighbours,” he said. “But their president is making a serious mistake and we have to take action.”