Think you can still bring a bottle of your favourite Niagara red or Ontario-made whisky to your grandparents’ place in Florida?
Think again, according to trade lawyers and the Canadian Snowbird Association, who say there appears to be no personal exemption when it comes to Donald Trump’s import ban on a wide array of Canadian alcohol products.
That means you can no longer bring even a single bottle of Canadian-made beer, wine or spirits into the U.S. — whether you’re willing to pay duty on it or not, said international trade lawyer Barry Appleton.
“A ban is an absolute prohibition. A tariff is a price a person can pay, and a personal allowance can forgive a duty. Neither can make a prohibited good admissible,” said Appleton, co-director of the Center for International Law at New York Law School, and a fellow at the University of Waterloo’s Balsillie School of International Affairs.