They Voted for Trump. Now Their Tourism Industry Is Collapsing

Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers' Association, warned that

"hardworking Americans — corn farmers, truckers, distillery workers, barrel makers, bartenders, servers — will suffer." He was right. A thirteen-month Canadian tourism boycott has cost the U.S. four and a half billion dollars in 2025 alone, and Kentucky's bourbon industry — nearly 24,000 jobs — is directly in the crossfire.

Read MoreNewsweek Kentucky Bourbon Boss Bemoans Canada Tariffs

KDA Economic Impact Report (Feb 2026)

When Trump returned to the White House, he didn't just launch tariffs on Canadian goods — he called Canada a fifty-first state and publicly humiliated its prime minister. Canadians responded the only way they could: they stopped coming here. What followed was thirteen consecutive months of declining Canadian visits to the United States — an organic, individual-level boycott that no government program organized and no amount of diplomatic softening has reversed. According to Longwoods International, 59 percent of Canadians say U.S. government policies have made them less likely to visit in the next twelve months. The actual 2025 decline hit 22 percent — more than double what the U.S. Travel Association said would cost $2.1 billion and 140,000 hospitality jobs. The real tab: $4.5 billion, with double-digit losses continuing into 2026.

The sharpest blow landed in Kentucky. The state produces 95 percent of the world's bourbon and voted heavily for Donald Trump. When Ontario's government liquor board pulled every American spirit from its shelves in direct retaliation for Trump's tariffs, it wasn't a foreign policy footnote — it was a direct strike on nearly 24,000 Kentucky jobs and $2 billion in wages. Small distillery owners like Jeremy Buchanan of Hartfield and Company went to legislators to make the case for how devastating the market closure has been for operations that can't absorb it. Premier Ford has been explicit: the bourbon goes back on the shelves when Trump ends the tariffs. He hasn't.

This is the extraction scheme operating in plain sight. Trump ran on protecting

American workers from unfair trade. The trade war he created is now costing American hospitality workers $4.5 billion in lost revenue and handing Kentucky's bourbon market to domestic Canadian spirits and European competitors. Canada just had its best tourism year in recorded history. The people absorbing the losses are the corn farmers, distillery workers, and small business owners who were told this deal would work out for them.

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