Canada boycotting US liquor ‘worse than tariff,’ says Jack Daniel's CEO

Canada accounts for only 1% of Jack Daniel's total sales, so Whiting said in an earnings call that the company can survive the hit.

Lawson Whiting, the CEO of Brown-Forman which is the parent company of Jack Daniel’s, said that Canada taking American liquor off its store shelves was “worse than a tariff.”

In this March 4, 2011, file photo, a bartender begins to pour a drink from a bottle of Jack Daniels at a bar in San Francisco. ( (Paul Sakuma/AP)

Whiting added that it was also a “disproportionate response” to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, according to a CNN report.

This comes after several Canadian stores removed liquor from the US as a retaliatory measure against the tariffs.

It is not just alcohol. Canadians are also moving away from other US goods, sports events, and trips, according to the report.

When it comes to Jack Daniel's, Canada accounts for only 1% of its total sales, so Whiting said in an earnings call that the company can take the hit.

However, Mexico made up 7% of its sales, and it is also a country on which Trump has imposed tariffs, so Whiting said that this is something to be watched out for.

Apart from the boycott, Canada also imposed a retaliatory 25% tariff on US goods, including wine, spirits, and beer.

All of this comes at a time when Brown-Forman has been struggling with a slowdown in the demand for its products, led by the US, Canada, and Europe, which ended up offsetting the stronger sales from emerging markets such as Mexico and Poland, the report read.

Its net sales fell 3% from a year ago to $1.04 billion, compared with analysts’ estimate of $1.07 billion, according to the report.

As a result, it had taken up cost-cutting measures such as laying off staff.

However, the report cited analysts as saying that this is a response to a more challenging environment both for the company as well as for the broader spirits industry.