President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods entering the United States from Mexico and Canada — two of America’s largest trading partners. Said Trump: “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.”
Trump said that the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Although the number of people arrested for illegally crossing the Mexican border is near a four-year low, it is still quite significant. Over 56,000 people were arrested in October of last year. Meanwhile, the number of people arrested for illegally crossing the Canadian border has been rising over the past two years.
In response to Trump’s threat, the Canadian province of Ontario — Canada’s most populous province — has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs.
Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, has also talked about restricting exports of critical minerals required for electric vehicle batteries and restricting electricity exports to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota (about 85 percent of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada). Said Ford: “We’re sending a message to the U.S. If you come and attack Ontario, you attack the livelihoods of people in Ontario and Canadians, we are going to use every tool in our toolbox to defend Ontarians and Canadians. Let’s hope it never comes to that.” Trump, on the other hand, told CNBC: “That’s OK if he does that. That’s fine.”
What really caught my eye, though, was that Ford’s government said “that it’s contemplating restricting Ontario’s liquor control board from buying American-made alcohol.”
Turns out that the sole distributor and retailer of alcoholic beverages in Ontario is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), which operates over 680 liquor stores throughout the province. The LCBO, which was established in 1927, “is a government enterprise and a responsible retailer and wholesaler of wine, beer, and spirits in Ontario.” It offers “more than 28,000 products annually from more than 80 countries.” Other than beer and wine, which are allowed to be sold by private but regulated entities, LCBO stores are the only retail stores licensed to sell hard liquor, and the LCBO is the only source for restaurants and bars to purchase spirits. At one time, residents of Ontario had to purchase a liquor permit to be able to buy liquor at LCBO stores so that the government could monitor how much liquor individuals were buying.
Now we know that Canada is a mixed-market, quasisocialist state with a national health care system, so it is really no surprise that a government entity like the LCBO is the sole distributor and retailer of alcoholic beverages in Ontario. But many states in the United States are not far behind when it comes to liquor socialism.In fact, there are 17 states in America in which the state government has a wholesale and/or retail monopoly over some or all types of alcoholic beverages, especially distilled spirits.
In the states of Alabama, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia, the government owns and operates all the liquor stores. The state government decides where the liquor stores will be located, determines which brands and sizes will be offered for sale, sets the prices of the products, establishes what the operating hours of the store will be, and hires the employees. Private liquor stores are strictly prohibited.
In the states of Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Wyoming, and West Virginia, alcohol is controlled by the government on the wholesale level. Retail stores in these states are basically state-contracted liquor stores that can purchase distilled spirits only from the government.
In all the other states, no private entities can sell alcoholic beverages of any kind without a state license. In most states, distilled spirits can be purchased only at a liquor store. Grocery stores that sell distilled spirits must have a stand-alone location or an attached location with its own entrance. In most states, alcohol sales are prohibited or restricted in some way on Sundays, and on the other days, state or local governments decide at what times alcohol can be sold or served.
Some states still have “dry” counties, cities, or towns where no alcohol can be sold.
And yet Americans say they live in the land of the free?
It is time to separate alcohol from the state — whether in Canada or in the United States.
No business should have to obtain a license to sell alcohol, sell alcohol only on certain days and at certain times, or purchase alcohol only from the government. And no government should prohibit the sale of, discourage the use of, or regulate the commerce of alcohol.
Alcohol should be just as separate from the state as religion.
