Free at last, free at last…Finally, the nasty tariff stand-off between USA and UK will soon come to an end. UK has officially agreed to lift the 25% American Whiskey tariff on June 1st, 2022. This is extremely significant being U.K. is a top tier export market of American Whiskey. The devastating tariffs slashed AW sales by $62M ($150M => $88M) over the embattled period, 2018 – 2021.
“Distillers throughout the United States are cheering the end of this long tariff nightmare. We toast the Biden administration for its resolve in bringing a stop to these punitive tariffs on American whiskeys and securing the return to duty-free trade in spirits across the Atlantic.”
– Chris Swonger, DISCUS PRESIDENT AND CEO
Swonger would also note, “We also appreciate the longstanding support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Vilsack for highlighting the negative impact retaliatory tariffs have on value-added agriculture exports, including distilled spirits. American Whiskey producers have a close relationship with their farmer partners who are also hailing an end to these devastating tariffs.”
We’ll drink to that.
Background:
- Since the imposition of the 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American Whiskeys, exports to the UK, the fourth-largest market, have declined by 42 percent, from $150 million to $88 million (2018-2021).
- In October 2021, the U.S. and the EU announced an agreement to suspend for two-years the EU’s 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American Whiskeys in the steel-aluminum dispute.
- In June 2021, the U.S. reached separate agreements with the EU and UK in the WTO Boeing-Airbus disputes to suspend tariffs for five years on U.S. rum, brandy and vodka, Single Malt Scotch, Single Malt Irish Whisky from Northern Ireland, liqueurs and cordials from the UK, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain, and certain Cognacs and other grape brandies from France and Germany.
NOTE: Information was provided by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).
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