Good morning — here’s the regulatory picture for alcohol and hemp/THC beverages, readable in about three minutes. Every headline links to the original source. TOP STORY 50% tariffs on Canadian beer, wine and spirits arrive Wednesday unless last-hour talks produce a deal FEDERAL / TRADE • CTV News • Aug 17 The additional 50% Section 338 tariffs on a broad list of Canadian goods — including beer, wine and spirits — take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday unless negotiators reach an agreement first. Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the Commerce Department Monday; LeBlanc said afterward “we’re going to continue working. Our job is not yet done,” and Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expects to speak with President Trump within 48 hours. Per Global News, the U.S. asks include returning American alcoholic beverages to provincial liquor-store shelves; a Honigman client alert notes the duties apply even to USMCA-compliant goods. Why it matters: If the deadline passes without a deal, Canadian-sourced beverage products and ingredients land at sharply higher cost from Wednesday, and the provincial shelf bans that limit U.S. brewers’ access to the Canadian market stay in play — check landed-cost assumptions and cross-border orders against both outcomes today. |
AROUND THE STATES South Carolina adjourns without THC-drink rules, leaving products unregulated until at least January SOUTH CAROLINA • Marijuana Moment / SC Daily Gazette • Aug 17 A negotiated House-Senate compromise that would have restricted hemp-derived THC drinks and edibles to buyers 21 and over, limited where they can be sold, and set a THC driving limit died without final passage, and legislators do not return until January 2027. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said “we’ll take a shot at it next year”; today the products face no state age restriction and are sold in gas stations, groceries and restaurants. Why it matters: South Carolina hemp-beverage SKUs keep their current market access into 2027 under state law — but the federal November/December timeline below still controls whether they remain lawful to sell at all. Hawaii asks federal court to dismiss retailer’s challenge to its hemp product crackdown HAWAII • Marijuana Moment • Aug 16 Attorney General Anne Lopez’s office moved to dismiss a lawsuit by an O’ahu retailer challenging the Health Department’s enforcement, begun in July, of Act 269 — which requires retailer registration and removal of hemp-derived THC products, including beverages, from shelves. The retailer argues the state is criminalizing federally legal hemp in violation of the Supremacy Clause and dormant commerce clause; the case is pending in Honolulu federal court. Why it matters: Hawaii shelf access for hemp THC beverages stays closed while the case is pending — treat the state as off-limits for those SKUs until the court rules. North Carolina Supreme Court: cannabis odor can justify a vehicle search despite legal hemp NORTH CAROLINA • Marijuana Moment • Aug 15 In a unanimous ruling in State v. Schiene — its third such decision this year — the court held that cannabis odor can contribute to probable cause for a warrantless vehicle search under a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. Defense counsel argued the odors of legal hemp and illegal marijuana are “virtually identical,” an issue the court’s framework leaves to case-by-case review in a state where smokable hemp is legal. ON THE RADAR Nov. 12 → Dec. 11? — The federal hemp redefinition (products above 0.4 mg total THC per container lose hemp status) still takes effect Nov. 12 unless the Senate-passed delay to Dec. 11 (90–6) is reconciled with the House’s version, which contains no delay; the House has not yet scheduled action. HHC in court — DEA is urging the Fourth Circuit to reject a hemp company’s standing to challenge its Schedule I drug code for hexahydrocannabinol, with a parallel Ninth Circuit case pending — rulings that will shape which hemp-derived cannabinoids can lawfully appear in beverages. Sept. 9 / Oct. 13 — The North Carolina ABC Commission returns to its tabled minimum liquor-pricing proposal at its Sept. 9 meeting; comments on TTB’s four proposed viticultural areas are due Oct. 13. |