US and EU removal of tariffs on American whiskey

After three years of back and forth, the US and EU have come to an agreement to remove the retaliatory tariffs

American whiskey lovers can rejoice at the announcement of the US and EU’s agreement to remove retaliatory tariffs on American whiskey as part of the steel-aluminum dispute agreement. The news comes just before the 25 per cent tariff was set to double in December.

Since the tariffs were imposed in 2018, Kentucky Bourbon’s exports to the EU and UK were cut by 50 per cent, costing distillers, industry partners and farm families hundreds of millions of dollars.

“After three very difficult years of sagging American whiskey exports, the EU and US are back to a zero-for-zero tariff agreement on distilled spirits, which has been instrumental to our export success and job creation on both sides of the Atlantic since 1997,” explained Distilled Spirits Council President & CEO Chris Swonger.

“With the removal of these EU tariffs, we are energized and ready to ramp up our American Whiskey promotions in the EU to re-introduce America’s native spirits to EU consumers and resume a great American export success story. “Cheers to the Biden administration for their dogged determination to reset trade relations with the EU and bring a stop to the needless damage being done to US businesses caught up in this trade war. The end of this long tariff nightmare is in sight for U.S. distillers, who have struggled with the weight of the tariffs and the pandemic. It’s time for the UK to lift its tariff on American Whiskeys so we can all get back to toasts, not tariffs.”