Saskatchewan consumers are being given a choice: continue buying American alcohol and pay more, or choose products made in Canada. Dezaray Littletent stopped at her neighbourhood liquor store to make a purchase, and like a growing number of Saskatchewan residents, she chose a Canadian product. But she said she isn’t sure about paying more for American products. “It’d be pretty sad if you had to pay taxes for them,” she said. Earlier this week, Saskatchewan announced a 50 per cent levy on U.S. alcohol sold in the province. It’s in retaliation to American tariffs on Canadian goods. Sales of American alcohol declined last year and liquor stores expect that trend will continue further. Liquor store employees say they are seeing more customers ask where products are made and increasingly choose Canadian options. “I see more and more people asking me questions when I suggest to them a product. For example they ask me if it’s Canadian or American, and they’re kind of moving away from the U.S. products,” said Save On Beer employee Apurv. The levy could also help sales of Saskatchewan produced products from companies like Last Mountain Distillers in Lumsden. “This kind of tariff will encourage people to try new things and maybe explore their Saskatchewan spirits and what Saskatchewan and Canada have to offer and I think that’s a really exciting thing for Saskatchewan,” said Last Mountain Distillery co-founder Meredith Schmidt. The province has no intention of removing American liquor from store shelves. They are letting consumers decide whether they still want to purchase American products and pay the extra 50 per cent mark up to the provincial government.
