Since March 2025, the Government of Quebec has banned the sale of alcoholic products originating from the United States. This decision was taken in response to tariffs imposed on Canadian products. As a result, American products, worth an estimated $27 million, were removed from the shelves of the provincial liquor corporation, the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ).

Starting February 12, 2026, some American products whose quality could deteriorate by March 2027 were exceptionally put back on sale for one day only, in order to clear inventory and donate the profits to food banks.

Rebel News went to the opening of the SAQ Dépôt branch at Marché Central in Montreal. About a dozen customers were already lined up to get inside when we arrived, several of them specifically hoping to buy American wines.

“I’d been wanting American wine for a long time, so today we forgot about the boycott,” said one. “I forced myself because it’s for a good cause — otherwise I wouldn’t have bought any,” said another.

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Some customers also questioned how effective the boycott really is. “Anyway, at the grocery store we buy all kinds of American products,” noted one. “It won’t really affect Americans… we’re one against 10,” pointed out another.

For many consumers, this measure has real consequences, both in terms of product choice and prices.

In the end, this political move, seen by some as simply ideological and symbolic, raises a fundamental question: who is actually being hurt by this boycott —the American producers, the state-owned corporation, or Quebec consumers themselves?