BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The US spirits industry says the European Union's decision to increase import tariffs on American whiskey to 50 percent is 'deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries.'
'Reimposing these debilitating tariffs at a time when the spirits industry continues to face a slowdown in US marketplace will further curtail growth and negatively impact distillers and farmers in states across the country,' Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement after the European bloc announced the steep hike in tariffs.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States is a national trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the country.
In response to the United States imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union, the 28-nation bloc announced a series of countermeasures to protect European businesses, workers and consumers from the impact of those trade restrictions.
The European Commission retaliated with the re-imposition of the suspended 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures and the imposition of a new package of additional measures.
On April 1, the 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures will automatically be reinstated. Tariffs will be applied on products ranging from boats to bourbon to motorbikes.
The Commission said the process to impose additional countermeasures on the U.S. will target approximately EUR18 billion worth of goods.
Swonger called on the U.S. government and the European Commission to 'come to a resolution that gets our spirits industry back to zero-for-zero tariffs.'
Due to the imposition of the EU's retaliatory tariff in 2018, American Whiskey exports to the EU plunged 20 percent, from $552 million to $440 million, according to the council's data.
The EU's 25 percent tariff on American Whiskey had been suspended for the past three years, helping to surge American Whiskey exports to the EU by nearly 60 percent.
Swonger said the tariffs were doubled at a time U.S. distillers were working hard to regain solid footing in the European Union, their largest export market.
He pointed out that many spirits products are recognized as 'distinctive products' by the U.S. and EU and can only be made in their designated countries. As a result, the production of these spirits products, including Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, Cognac and Irish Whiskey, cannot simply be moved to another country or region.
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