Giovanni Cassano, a restaurant owner in the Canadian province of Ontario, was not going to let a trade war get in the way of his diners’ thirst for Californian wine, Jim Beam Kentucky bourbon or Texan-made Tito’s vodka.
Soon, however, he and his diners might not have a choice.
When President Trump announced planned tariffs on the country last month, Canadian politicians threatened to pull American alcohol brands off the shelves of government-run liquor stores in retaliation.
On Tuesday, those tariffs briefly went into effect, and American spirits and wine were boxed up and hidden away in much of Canada. Television broadcasts were filled with footage of employees packing up glass bottles and leaving behind barren shelves.
“People are going to get frustrated, but I think they’ll adapt,” said Mr. Cassano, the owner of a cafe and an adjacent oyster bar in Windsor, Ontario, a border city that is the heart of Canada’s auto industry and an important battleground in the trade war.
Ahead of Tuesday, Mr. Cassano stockpiled just enough cases of American spirits and wine to give himself time to transition to Canadian-made products at his two businesses, which sit not far from the distillery where Canadian Club whiskey is made and largely exported to the United States.
