The United States brought in tariffs on 1
June, levying a 25% import duty on steel and a 10% on Aluminum brought into the
United States. Many nations throughout
the world accused the US of protectionism. On Wednesday (6 June), the
European Commission will be introducing tariffs on US goods ranging from
Bourbon to motorcycles, including a 25% tariff on American whiskey as soon as
July 20th.The 25% tariff on American whiskey could be imposed as
early as 20 July. June 5th,
Mexico imposed a 25% tariff on Bourbon on July 1, Canada proposed 10% retaliatory
tariffs. Turkey has also proposed a 40%
tariff on all US distilled spirits, set to come into force on 21 June. China has already announced that it will hit American
Imports of Whiskey with a 25% tariff whiskey in response to punitive US
measures.
In
a letter to commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, the Distilled Spirits Council said
it is “extremely concerned about the increasing likelihood” that the EU,
Canada, Turkey and China will go through with previously stated trade threats. The group said that US spirits exports are
worth an estimated $759 million to these markets. If imposed, tariffs “would
severely harm” producers, farmers, distribution, logistic providers and
packaging suppliers. Distilled Spirits
Council said that around 65% of global US whiskey exports are also at risk of
retaliatory tariffs. Retaliatory
tariffs could “seriously impede the export process that has benefited our
sector”, the Distilled Spirits Council said.
The
Spirits industry in general could take a huge hit if these retaliatory tariffs
are imposed. The nation needs to keep on
top of this issue and do what is necessary to prevent this political move that
was proven that protectionism doesn’t work back in the 1920’s and 30’s. American leaders imposed
dramatically high tariffs before
with an infamous act of Congress passed in 1930, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. In the late 1920’s, more than a thousand
economists warned American leaders against hiking tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods to as much as 60%. Remember this was a part of the beginning of
the Great Depression. We don’t need to
repeat history again.
