Saskatchewan to add 50 per cent tax on U.S. alcohol imports

Speaking to media on Wednesday for the first time since the trade deal collapsed, Moe said his government is set to apply, what he called, a 50 per cent tariff on alcohol imports into Saskatchewan from the U.S., to mirror the American tariff on Canadian alcohol imports.

While the Saskatchewan government no longer runs its own liquor stores, it still runs the wholesale operation which supplies all the private liquor stores in the province.

Read more:

• Trump’s tariffs on Canada likely to face court challenge: Lawyer
• Buy Canadian: Purchasing patriotism sees renewed push amid rising tariffs
• Trump makes tariff case saying ‘it’s time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore’

Moe said his government didn’t want to remove American alcohol from the shelves, saying people should be able to make their own choices.

“At the very core of this government’s belief is that people have the power to choose and we encourage them to do so … we encourage them to continue to make the choices that are right for their family; government does not need to mandate, to legislate, all of the decisions that families make across this province,” said Moe.

He said people are already choosing not to buy American, explaining U.S. alcohol sales are down 40 per cent and sales of Saskatchewan alcohol are up.

Repeating what he’d already said in a statement on Tuesday, Moe said he agreed with the counter-tariff regime put forward by the federal government. Canada’s retaliation covers around $1.5 billion, or 11.3 per cent, of Saskatchewan’s annual imports from the U.S.

However, he said he wouldn’t agree with any kind of export tariff on oil and gas, or minerals like potash, saying it would be too detrimental to the Saskatchewan and Canadian economies.

NDP calls for American liquor to be pulled

The Opposition NDP says Saskatchewan’s 50 per cent levy on American alcohol does not go far enough and U.S. products should be removed from liquor store shelves entirely.

“His plan is really dumb,” NDP trade critic Kim Breckner said. “It should be off the shelves. Period.”

Breckner argued the province should not use its liquor-distribution system to continue selling American products during the trade war.

“At the minimum, he’s taking American liquor off our shelves,” she said. “He’s not letting our public liquor-distribution system be used to facilitate the sale of American liquor when we’re in a trade war. It’s a very simple concept.”

Breckner also claimed SLGA would have to pay the levy to the federal government.

“This 50 per cent tax, it is the importer that pays it. So that would be SLGA, which is a Crown corporation,” she said.

“Essentially, it’s money coming out of our pockets as stakeholders in that Crown, being sent to Ottawa.”

Breckner said SLGA could increase the retail price to recover the cost, but questioned what would happen if the products did not sell.

“What if nobody buys it? They’re out of that money,” she said. “Even if somebody does, that’s just a wealth transfer to the feds. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Finance Minister Jim Reiter rejected Breckner’s description of how the levy would be collected.

“The levy will be charged by and paid to SLGA, not paid by SLGA,” Reiter said in a statement. “It will not be paid to the federal government.”

—with files from 980 CJME’s Jacob Bamhour