HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — A new ban on Canadian products is hitting close to home for some small businesses in Western New York.
The Trump administration is banning nearly $1 billion in Canadian imports, ranging from dairy products and motorcycles to alcoholic beverages, including wine and beer made directly in Canada.
Anne McIntosh, co-owner of Alchemy Wine and Beer in Hamburg, relies heavily on wines from Niagara-on-the-Lake — and said the ban is already being felt.
"It's going to be a big blow to our region," McIntosh said.
McIntosh tells me the Niagara-on-the-Lake region produces wines she cannot simply replace with domestic alternatives.
"It's an excellent wine-making region, and the Cab Franc specifically and the Riesling are fantastic varietals out of that region," McIntosh said. "We're close to the border, and people know that kind of wine and that style of wine, and it's not something you can just reproduce here. It's the geography of the region of that escarpment that makes it so good."
WATCH: 'It's going to be a big blow to our region': Canadian import ban hits close to home in WNY
Her inventory of Canadian wines is nearly exhausted.
"I have two bottles of ice wine left, a couple bottles of Riesling, and three bottles of Cab Franc. So that's it. Once it's gone, it's gone," McIntosh said.
The ban is the latest development in the ongoing tariff dispute between the United States and Canada. President Trump has said Canada has taken advantage of the U.S. for too long, and on Monday called Canada "one of the worst countries in the entire world."
McIntosh tells me the impact of the ban falls on people who had nothing to do with those larger trade disputes.
"You're just hurting the small business owner here," McIntosh said "We're not a big, huge manufacturer. I don't do steel. I don't do all these other things that are banned. We're just bringing in wine. It's something that's supposed to be approachable and affordable to people, and now it's neither of those things."
Despite the ban, McIntosh is finding a creative way to continue supporting her Canadian partners. She organizes bus tours into Canada for customers to enjoy the wine firsthand.
"We’re not banned from going to Canada. So, while it can't come to us, we're going to them. We just planned a Niagara on the Lake Ice Wine Festival bus tour," McIntosh said. "It's a way for us to continue to support them because we still are friends.”
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