Australia is seeking to expand its wine and spirits exports to Canada as the trade war between Donald Trump’s administration and its North American neighbour disrupts the alcohol market, while warning Washington against imposing tariffs on Australian lamb.
Trade Minister Don Farrell will raise the proposals at a G20 meeting of trade ministers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week. He is due to meet Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Canadian provincial governments, which generally control alcohol sales, began banning American products last year after the US imposed tariffs and Mr Trump pushed for Canada to become the 51st American state. A retaliatory ban on Canadian alcohol products in the US took effect on Tuesday, US time.
Mr Farrell said Australia was well placed to “fill the gap” in Canada’s alcohol market. Australian wine exports to Canada rose by 13 per cent in volume and 20 per cent in value during 2025-26, reaching $188 million.
“I think if we were to quickly fill that gap, it would be worth more than $100 million at the start,” Mr Farrell said. “It’s a significant figure at a time when the wine industry is facing difficulties right around the country.”
Canada has been identified as a priority growth market for Australian wine producers under the Accessing New Markets Initiative, a government strategy worth $55 million that is intended to help industries respond to global economic uncertainty linked in part to US tariffs.
Alongside efforts to deepen trade with Canada, Mr Farrell will press the United States to honour its obligations under the free trade agreement with Australia by removing existing tariffs and avoiding new ones on Australian lamb.
Australia supplies about half of the US lamb market. Mr Farrell said tariffs would increase costs for American consumers, as had happened with beef.
“Our argument is that we want good relations with the United States,” he said. “They’re our second-largest trading partner. They’re our most important military partner … At the moment, our trade relationship is overwhelmingly in their favour.”
“It has an impact on their cost of living,” he added. “We think it’s counterproductive for them to apply tariffs to products like lamb, which simply pushes up the price for ordinary American consumers.”
The US International Trade Commission is investigating whether lamb imports pose a threat to the domestic industry, a process that could precede the imposition of tariffs. Mr Farrell said Australia had made no new offer in exchange for tariff relief or a reprieve on lamb.
Australia’s alignment with Canada and other middle powers is expected to attract scrutiny in Washington. Mr Trump recently described Canada as “one of the worst countries in the entire world” on trade, while senior White House trade counsellor Peter Navarro called the Canadians “the most difficult and arrogant” of all.
Mr Farrell dismissed concerns about the potential impact on Australia’s position. “We make decisions based on our national interest,” he said. “We are very definitely in the category of those countries that believe in free and fair trade.”
The minister is also scheduled to meet representatives from the European Union, India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia during the Milwaukee summit. The discussions with India will come as Australia seeks a broader second free trade agreement with the world’s most populous nation.
US trade ambassador Jamieson Greer is expected to renew American concerns about Australia’s technology regulations, including a proposed digital duty of care that Washington says could disproportionately affect American companies.
