OREGON – Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner and an Oregon wine industry expert participated in a press call on Thursday to discuss how tariffs are affecting the state’s wine industry.

Jana McKamey, Executive Director of the Oregon Winegrowers Industry, says the industry took a major hit after many American products were removed from Canadian store shelves in protest of the tariffs last year.

Canada was previously the wine industry’s most lucrative export market, with a $254 million trade surplus in 2024. However, in 2025, the industry saw a Canadian trade deficit of $90 million. McKamey said Oregon’s wine exports to Canada are down 83% from last year, making this the single most catastrophic year for the state’s wine industry in recent history.

A decline in Canadian tourism, along with the increased cost of importing essential products like bottles and barrels, has also had a significant impact.

“Our ask is to really have this trade issue with Canada resolved and also to create some certainty in the international trade environment,” said McKamey. “Uncertainty is terrible for business, and so these last few years have been very difficult as we’ve responded to all the different actions that have been taken.”

McKamey says they are optimistic and actively working on repairing their relationships with Canadian markets. However, she also anticipates that it will be a difficult and time consuming task.

“That’s part of the frustration, as it takes years and decades to develop these export relationships, and it can take one day to unravel those relationships,” she said. 

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