Canada’s Alberta slams breaks on slot purchases over Trump tariff war

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have begun to hit foreign casinos. In a new development, a Canadian regulator has paused purchasing slot machines. The decision also includes video lottery terminals (VLTs) as the Trump administration proceeds with its trade war.

Canada’s Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission has stopped all purchases of new machines from the US. This is in response to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs to Trump’s, putting 25% import charges on 1256 items.

Included in this are two entries that tie into the casino world. Under entries 9504.30.00 and 9504.40.00, the following gambling-related items are taxed:

• Other games, operated by coins, banknotes, bank cards, tokens or by other means of payment, other than automatic bowling alley equipment
• Playing cards

While it doesn’t sound like one group pausing purchases wouldn’t have much effect, Alberta represents 4% of all sales in the US and Canada. Canada’s overall spending on 15,000 slot machines equalled 16% of the total spending between the two countries.

Bringing in 4000 machines a year into the area, there’s a possibility this could have a knock-on effect on suppliers’ income. Especially if other Canadian commissions decide to follow suit.

Much like the US, Canada splits its gambling oversight commissions across its various provinces. Each one can decide on how to react to the tariffs independently, much like it has done with removing US alcohol from shelves.

Trump’s tariffs could start to impact other areas of the gambling business, too. While Europe hasn’t had anything applied yet, Trump has been threatening “unfairness” in recent days due to perceived abuse.

If similar tariffs were to be placed on the EU, US-based slot makers like International Gaming Technology could see similar halts on purchases. While these tariffs are already expected to have a negative effect on other electronics businesses in the next few months, we’ll have to wait to see how they negatively impact the casino industry.

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