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(Editor’s note: Duncan Ross of Arrowhead Springs Vineyard posted this to social media regarding New York wineries and tariffs. The playing field between New York and Ontario wineries is massively uneven. Arrowhead Springs is, in the opinion of the Niagara Express, one of the top two wineries in Niagara County. Chateau Niagara is the other. Visit one or both and several in between, especially Schulze and Victorianbourg.)
By Duncan Ross
Arrowhead Springs Vineyards
I’m not a fan of blanket tariffs. For the past 50 years or so Ontario Canada has had a 102% provincial duty on wine, including wine purchased at NY farm wineries.
Pay $20 for a bottle of wine in NY, return home and pay another $20 at the border. Over the past 20 years we have worked with Canadian trade groups and our own Federal and NY State legislators to remove this unfair tariff so NY farm wineries can enjoy cross border tourism just like wineries in Ontario have done.
Advertisements over the years from Canadian wineries have informed US customers that wines purchased at Ontario wineries are free from duty and easy to bring back to the USA. I find it ironic that the Canadian speaker at this wine history event was so upset by 25% tariffs that he backed out of his speaking engagement, while at the same time supporting decades of Ontario tariffs that effectively lock out NY farm wineries from the Ontario tourist market.
(The item he referenced, published in the Erie, Pa. Times, is below).
A wine expert from Canada has canceled his planned Jefferson Educational Society lecture because of the proposed tariffs announced by the Trump administration.
Rod Phillips — a Carleton University professor and wine historian, writer and judge — was scheduled to speak Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the society, 3207 State St., as part of its Winter Term. His lecture was titled "How the Wine Industry Started in North America."
"I was very much looking forward to coming to Erie to talk about the history of wine in this region, and to taste and write about local wines. ..." Phillips said in a news release. "But the tariffs on Canadian imports announced by President Trump are an attack on Canada that has made me and many others unwilling to travel to the United States except when absolutely necessary."
Trump planned to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, but delayed them for 30 days after talking with leaders from both countries. A 10% tariff on China was still scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Who will replace Phillips as the lecturer?
The society's event will continue with a new guest: Bob Green, a local wine historian and Penn State Behrend professor. It's titled, "History Uncorked: Exploring Wine's History, Staying Power and Role in North America."
"We understand and respect Dr. Phillips' decision and know these are trying and uncertain times impacting many," said Ben Speggen, the society's vice president. "We are grateful to our partners at the Hagen History Center for helping to ensure our Winter Term kick-off event, and the Doris Becker Lecture Series program, remains on the civic calendars of those throughout the Erie region by securing another speaker to take the stage."
