- Title: 'We're anxious' -- Trump's tariff wars could put bourbon distillers on the ropes
- Date: 14th March 2025
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR YARBROUGH, CO-FOUNDER OF BROUGH BROTHERS DISTILLERY, SAYING: “It's just the uncertainty. If we know either way, long term, that's fine. You know, we'll pivot and make the adjustments necessary regardless, but the uncertainty of a 30-days on and off two weeks on, two weeks off, that's just very difficult for an actual producer, like a manufactur
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: BOURBON CANADA CANADIAN DISTILL EU LIQUOR MUSK TARIFF TARIFFS TAX TAXES TRADE TRADE WAR TRUDEAU TRUMP WHISKEY
- Location: LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY AND WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES/ VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA;/ TORONTO AND WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA
- City: LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY AND WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES/ VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA;/ TORONTO AND WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics,International Trade
- Reuters ID: LVA003893214032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With a trade war brewing between the United States, Canada, and the European Union, bourbon distillers worry they could soon be in trouble.
Distilleries both big and small in Louisville, Kentucky, known to many as 'Bourbon City' or "The Wall Street of Whiskey,' are reeling after the European Union proposed a 50% tariff on all American whiskey in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
American whiskey exports to Europe stood at $699 million in 2024, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. European spirits exports to the U.S. stood at 2.9 billion euros in 2024, according to spiritsEurope.
“We were looking at next year growing in Europe," said Judy Hollis Jones, co-founder of Buzzard's Roost Whiskey. "We were just beginning to grow a taste for bourbon there (Europe) and I think this will squash that. So, what it does for us is it just sort of puts a lid on where we can grow.”
One of the owners of Brough Brothers Distillery, Kentucky's first Black-owned distillery, tells Reuters that months of planning to sell their products in New Brunswick, Canada, have been put on hold because of tariffs.
"This is something that we've kind of been working on behind the scenes and all of a sudden, this hard work that we've done is now being impacted," said Victor Yarbrough, co-founder of Brough Brothers Distillery.
In Canada, many liquor stores and bars have pulled American Whiskey off the shelves entirely in support of their country amid Trump's ongoing threat of tariffs.
Still, some smaller businesses simply can't afford to pull product.
"We have paid for that inventory already, we don't have the luxury of taking it out, and it's not something we can just go out and replace or exchange," said Patel Vaibhav, owner of Artemis Whiskey Bar in Victoria, British Columbia. "It's something that costs us money, and so, we have to keep it on the shelf, and we have to try and navigate this as much as possible."
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