Alberta importers face economic crisis amid trade war and U.S. liquor ban

The Alberta government’s decision to stop allowing U.S. Liquor sales is costing some small businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We sort of feel like–as small businesses–we’re being held captive in the middle of a geo-political tariff war by our provincial government,” said Reed White, president and owner of Celler Maker Imports.

White is one of the many importers left with thousands of dollars worth of unsellable inventory, while paying expensive storage fees for it to sit in a warehouse to collect dust, which he says feels like “cruel and unusual punishment.”

They were also left paying the shipping fees to send back products that arrived after the ban.

“For a small business, you pay thousands of dollars to ship wine out of California or Napa or Washington or something like that, and then you’re paying thousands of dollars to send it back but not be able to sell the product,” White said.

“So to me it would have been a grace period to allow some of those shipments to come into the province.”

White says even a heads up would have been appreciated.

“There was no consultation or warning with us as businesses at all,” he said.

“Our business really is that week-to-week business that we sell and receive payments, so there is a cash crunch there.”

He says removing the storage fees on American goods was just one way the province could’ve helped mitigate the financial stress on importers.

According to White, the financial burden falls to the government in other provinces, like Ontario, B.C., and Quebec; however, the product is owned by Alberta businesses who sell them through the warehouses, adding the burden falls on them.

“I hear our Premier Danielle Smith constantly speak of the Alberta advantage, the small and medium businesses that thrive here, the entrepreneurial culture that we have here. All of this is being threatened,” White said.

“It’s quite confusing to speak out of one side of your mouth about how proud you are of all these businesses and yet hold us hostage.”

He now fears the situation will only get worse.

“You’re going to see job losses, you’re going to see businesses shut down, and obviously have to carry that debt for however long it takes to pay that off. You’re obviously going to see significant disruptions in the supply chain,” White said.

He’s now calling on the province to step in, and prevent further economic disaster.

White says removing the storage fees for American products and allowing importers to sell off the items they’ve already paid for would allow them to deplete their inventory and provide some major economic relief.

In a statement, the province says Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) has paused all U.S.-sourced liquor product storage charges that have accumulated since March 6, and it encourages importers to continue dialogue with the AGLC.