Saskatchewan has reversed a decision to stop selling or distributing American-branded alcohol products made in Canada, after industry backlash.
In wake of U.S. tariffs, the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) said it notified beverage alcohol retailers, distributors and producers that American-branded products wouldn’t be sold or distributed in the province.
The SLGA originally released a list of 54 American alcohol brands, including Bud Light, Blue Moon, Busch, Kirkland Wine and others.
Industry leaders like Jim Bence, the president and CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan, argued many of the American beer brands that have headquarters in the U.S. are still brewed in Canada.
Labatt Breweries of Canada says it employs about 3,500 people in the country and brews brands like Bud Light, Busch and Budweiser in Canada.
Beer Canada also called on the province to reverse its decision.
“Beer Canada is calling on Premier Moe’s government to immediately reverse this heavy-handed market intervention, which inappropriately targets leading Canadian beer brands brewed in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec that are most often made from Saskatchewan and other Western Canadian-grown barley,” a news release from the organization stated.
On Monday, the government walked back its decision. It said in a statement that the move aligned with other provinces and that it would focus on alcohol produced in the U.S.
“We have spent a lot of time speaking with stakeholders within the industry such as Hospitality Saskatchewan, speaking with the public, talking to some of our local distributors,” Alana Ross, the minister responsible for SLGA, said on Monday. “We weren’t really in line with what the other provinces were doing, so we took it back.”
The province said the sale and distribution of the 54 Canadian-produced American brands will resume.
Bence said he appreciated the government’s willingness to take feedback on the issue.
“We applaud their ability to be able to [reverse the decision] and their willingness to look at information and roll back some of the pieces that they had implemented last week,” Bence said.
CBC has requested a list of American-made beers the province will now focus on.
