“Dry January” is over for those who embraced the self-imposed 31-day alcohol ban to mark the beginning of the new year.
But the trend could continue, according to a nationwide poll.
“New findings from NCSolutions reveal that nearly half (49%) of Americans say they plan to drink less alcohol in 2025, a 44% increase since 2023,” according to Convenience Store News. “The percentage of those planning to cut back on alcohol consumption has been trending consistently upward over the last three years. In 2023, 34% of Americans planned to drink less. In 2024, that percentage rose to 41%.”
Depending on possible tariffs on consumer goods coming from certain countries, prices could figure into the equation.
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“Alcoholic beverages accounted for nearly a quarter of all U.S. imports from Mexico in 2023,” according to Bloomberg News. “Four in five beers that enter the U.S. from abroad come from south of the border, so do half of all hard liquor the country imports — mainly tequila and mescal. Canada is also a top supplier of distilled spirits including liqueurs and whiskey.”
The import taxes have been widely condemned by business groups and economists who warn they’ll raise prices for American consumers.
“Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China would effectively could cost each U.S. household more than $830 in additional taxes in 2025, according to an analysis released by the center-right Tax Foundation,” per Forbes.
One Canadian province, Ontario, is already taking measures to counter the proposed U.S. tariffs. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers annually.
“Ontario Premier Doug Ford has ordered the LCBO to strip its shelves of American products in response to the U.S. imposing 25% tariffs on most Canadian imports starting Tuesday,” according to the CBC. “The premier said the LCBO, as the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, will also remove American products from its catalogue so that Ontario-based restaurants and retailers can't order or restock U.S. products.”
The LCBO said it is the "importer of record" for all U.S. alcohol products into the province, with annual sales of up to $965 million. It lists more than 3,600 products from 35 U.S. states.
This follows similar moves from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and British Columbia Premier David Eby, who banned his province’s Liquor Distribution Branch from buying American alcohol from “red states,” whose voters vote predominantly for the Republican Party.
“Effective today, I have directed BC Liquor sales to immediately stop buying American liquor from red states,” Eby said, in a televised address, according to The Daily Beast. “Liquor store employees will be removing the most popular of these brands from government store shelves.”