California’s wine industry is also suffering from changes in the habits of Americans, who have started to consume less alcohol
The Californian wine industry has been affected by US government restrictions on products from Canada. There was a 96% drop in exports of the drink, from US$ 111 million in 2024 to US$ 4 million in 2025. The information is from . It is the first time, in this segment, that the US surplus with its neighboring country has become a deficit.
In addition to international negotiations, the change in North Americans’ habits also brought problems for California wineries. According to Gallup – a North American opinion research company –, 2025 recorded the lowest alcohol consumption in almost 9 decades.
RATES
On January 30, US President Donald Trump (Republican Party) announced about Canadian and Mexican products starting in February. In retaliation, Canada placed equal tariffs on items imported from the United States.
There was also a Canadian movement to encourage the purchase of local products to the detriment of North American ones – among these products, alcoholic beverages –, which “buy canadian”. With the initiative, markets began to place signs in support of local consumption.
When the tariffs were initiated, the Wine Institute – an association of Californian wineries – published a request for a resolution of the diplomatic dispute, considering the negative impacts on the economy and the wine sector.
“Any loss of access to the Canadian market will harm the entire U.S. wine sector. Furthermore, the entire alcoholic beverage sector is already facing unprecedented market challenges, so these tariffs and potential product removals come at a time when their impact will be particularly difficult.”said the president and CEO of the association, Robert Koch, at the time.
Before the taxes, the Canadian market absorbed 35% of Californian wine exports – the value exceeded US$ 1.1 billion. Canadian tariffs on the drink were only removed in August. Despite this, according to the Wine Institute, prohibitions still persisted at a provincial level, which prevented the product from fully entering Canada.
Despite the sudden change from 2024 to 2025 – with a 96% drop in exports to Canada – and the impact caused by retaliation against tariffs, the foreign market is not the main destination for the drink produced in California. From 2003 to 2024, sales to other countries ranged from 200 million to 400 million liters per year.
In contrast, the United States domestic market absorbed 1.8 billion liters in 2024 alone. The volume is 500% greater than that sold to other countries in the same period (300 million liters).
The years with the lowest volume consumed internally were 2003 and 2004, with 1.6 billion liters. The best years were 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021, with 2.2 billion liters sold.
CHANGING HABIT
According to Gallup, in 2025 only 54% of Americans said they consume some type of alcoholic beverage. It is the lowest percentage since the beginning of the historical series, which began in 1939. In that year, 58% of Americans reported drinking.
Since 1997, more than 60% of Americans said they consume alcohol. The percentage began to decline in 2024 (58%).
According to the research company, the reduction in consumption of this type of drink is related to greater health concerns. For the first time, 53% say that even moderate consumption is bad, while 6% say it is good and 37% say it makes no difference.
Among those who claim that drinks, even in moderation, are harmful, there was a jump of 8 percentage points from 2024 (45%) to 2025.
Furthermore, Gallup also observed that, among those who drink, the frequency of consumption has also reduced. For the first time since 1996, the average number of doses in the last 7 days is 2.8. The highest record was 5.1, in 2003.
