California Pleads With Quebec To Lift Trade Ban

Californian members of Congress have written to Christine Fréchette, the new Premier of Canadian province Quebec, urging her to reopen trade for US wine. They claim that American wineries "have no connection" to the "underlying trade disputes". On 24 June, Californian politicians including Adam Schiff sent a letter to new Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette imploring her to reopen trade with US wineries. The measure was taken in response to a picture that is looking increasingly grave for Californian wine producers, who until the conflict kicked off as a result of Trump hiking up import/export tariffs, counted Canada as their biggest market. According to a data report by California's Wine Institute, 2025 was confirmed as "the most catastrophic single-year trade disruption in the history of US wine exports". This is predominantly due to the fact that Canada's liquor boards removed American wine entirely from shelves. As a result, Canadians (previously the biggest buyers of Californian wine) have been looking closer to home and drinking Canadian wine instead. As db reported in this exclusive interview, Janet Dorozynski, sector lead for alcohol beverages for Canada’s trade commissioner, called the ban “an ongoing small act of consumer resistance”. She described its impact as having been “quite tremendous” for Canadian producers, who have seen domestic sales explode. Many Canadian wineries told db that they don't foresee an end to the ban for at least another one to three years. As Wab Kinew, Premier for Canada’s Manitoba province, said back in March: “Why should we drop something that’s clearly working and having an effect?”.

Californians put pen to paper

In the recent letter penned to Quebec Premier Fréchette, who was sworn into office in April 2026, the Californian congressmen wrote: "Reopening the market to American wine would retore consumer choice and signal a commitment to restoring fair and balanced trade for Quebecois consumers and American wineries who have no connection to the underlying trade disputes." "Unfortunately, the restriction on American wine has had damaging consequences for regional consumers, businesses and producers who had no influence over national policies."

Tremendous value

Adam Schiff personally added in the letter: "As a US Senator on the Senate Agriculture Committee, I have had the great fortune of spending time with and learning about the challenges and opportunities of California's winegrowers. "They take great pride in their work, are essential to the state and the national economy, and have brought tremendous value - in culture and taste - to Americans and Canadians alike." "Quebec consumers have historically enjoyed access to a wide variety of American wines, and their absence limits choice in the marketplace, while cutting off a $434 million market." Other leading US figures have taken a more aggressively legislative approach, with congresswoman Claudia Tenney calling for an official investigation into the ban, calling the restrictions on selling American wine “discriminatory”. Tenney introduced the Combating Attacks on our National Alcoholic Drinks by Allies (CANADA) Act, which will see a US trade representative initiate a Section 301 investigation into the Canadian provinces’ recent actions.