American distillers welcome end of tariffs in Canada and Mexico

L O UI SVILLE, KY.» American whiskey producers feeling the pain from the Trump administration’s trade disputes have gotten a shot of relief with an agreement that will end retaliatory tariffs that Canada and Mexico slapped on whiskey and other U.S. products.

The whiskey industry hailed the arrangement to ease trade tensions among the North American allies and said it hopes it’s the first of several rounds of good news on the trade front.

Distillers have suffered shrinking exports since the last half of 2018 due to tariffs in some key markets.

President Donald Trump last Friday lifted import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delayed auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. In return, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap their retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including American whiskey.

But U.S. whiskey makers still face significant trade hurdles in the European Union, the industry’s biggest export market.

“We hope the U.S. and our trading partners can build on this positive momentum to resolve all of the remaining retaliatory tariffs that our U.S. distilled spirits exports face, particularly the European Union’s 25 percent tariff on American whiskey,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

In 2017, total U.S. whiskey exports to Canada and Mexico were valued at $62.1 million, the council said.