We are encouraged by Katherine Tai’s comments on the need to rebuild trade relationships with our allies. We are hopeful that the Biden Administration will move quickly to ease trade tensions and resolve the tariff tit-for-tat with the EU and UK, which is causing grave and unnecessary harm to U.S. distillers and the wider hospitality industry.
We are urging for the immediate suspension of tariffs on spirits products while the administration works to negotiate the two underlying trade disputes unrelated to our sector.
With a looming June 1 deadline for the doubling of the EU tariffs on American Whiskey, hitting pause on the tariffs is critical to the survival of many small U.S. distilleries. A drastic hike in the retaliatory tariff on American Whiskey from 25 to 50 percent will be the breaking point for many craft distillers already under significant strain from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Timeline and Impact of U.S.-EU-UK-Retaliatory Tariffs on Distilled Spirits