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Tariffs: European spirits alarmed by EU retaliations on bourbon

by AI | 12.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

European spirits producers on Wednesday called on the European Union and the United States to leave their sector “out of their disputes,” after Brussels announced increased tariffs on a range of imported American products, including bourbon.

Bourbon flows through a sealed bung hole, used for tasting aging bourbon, at Kentucky Peerless Distilling in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 11, 2019. (Photo: Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Paris – Spirits Europe, the European lobby of the sector, said it was “extremely concerned” to see European duties on American spirits raised “in the context of a steel and aluminum war unrelated” to this sector.

“If applied from April 1st, these duties will have a terribly damaging impact on European companies producing American spirits, on American companies heavily invested in Europe, and on all players in the value chain, endangering the many jobs they support, including in agricultural areas,” the organization stated.

“We do not understand how this will help in the broader, unrelated context of the steel and aluminum dispute,” said Pauline Bastidon, director in charge of trade for Spirits Europe.

The European Commission plans to apply “strong but proportionate” duties on products imported from the United States, including bourbon, starting April 1st, in response to new American taxes of 25% imposed on steel and aluminum. (March 12, 2025)