It looks like we're headed for a trade war with our closest neighbour.

There's no sugar coating this, a tariff war with the United States is a bad situation. It's going to hit both Canadian companies and ordinary people pretty hard.

There isn't much we everyday folks can do, except vote with our wallets.

One of the measures that's been floated to retaliate against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs is to stop buying U.S. alcohol.

In B.C. and Ontario, it's possible that we could almost entirely cut off the supply of American booze, thanks to the buying power of the provincial liquor control boards. No retaliatory tariffs are needed, they can just stop buying new stock from the U.S.

This is one of the best responses possible.

U.S. tariffs will hurt Canadian exporters. Retaliatory tariffs will hurt Canadian businesses and consumers, by raising prices for everything from California-grown vegetables to U.S.-made tractors.

But cutting off U.S. alcohol?

Yes, it will reduce selection at our liquor stores. And I'm sure there are some folks who were hoping to pick up a bottle of special bourbon for a retirement gift, or had picked out a California wine to serve at their wedding, who will find themselves inconvenienced.

But in the end, beer, wine, and spirits are not a necessity. Of all the things we might have to give up or use less of, this one is actually good for us.

And on the flip side, we do produce all of those things here in Canada.

With our liquor stores needing to fill space on their shelves, we can reach out first to B.C. producers, and then to other brewers, vintners, and distillers working across Canada. 

(We are also trying to tear down inter-provincial trade barriers, after all, and barricades against cross-Canada alcohol trade remain pernicious.)

In addition, it's a good time to go abroad. If there's no American alcohol on our shelves, we can look to South America, Europe, and Asia. And while we do that, it might be a good idea to make connections that let them exalt our Canadian products to people overseas.

We can't depend on the American market anymore, as a supplier or a customer. For liquor and other items, we must look closer to home and farther afield.