WASHINGTON — The European Union is striking back and announced Wednesday what it called “strong but proportionate” countermeasures in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to the U.S.

What You Need To Know

  • The European Union announced Wednesday what it called "strong but proportionate" countermeasures in response to U.S. tariffs

  • President Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports 

  • The EU’s previously suspended tariff on U.S. whiskeys will return April 1 at 50%, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. 

  • The council's president and CEO called it a "worst-case scenario" 

Once again, Kentucky bourbon is caught in the crossfire. Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), called it a “worst-case scenario.”

In 2018, the EU placed a 25% retaliatory tariff on American whiskeys, in response to Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. That caused whiskey exports to the EU to plunge 20%, from $552 million in 2018 to about $440 million in 2021, according to figures from DISCUS.

After the U.S. and EU agreed to a truce in their trade war, exports rebounded to $705 million in 2023.

In response to Trump’s new tariffs, the EU’s previously suspended tariff on American whiskeys is now returning at 50% on April 1, DISCUS said. Swonger has been working with American and EU leaders, hoping to avoid that.

“This industry shouldn’t be embroiled in this, and it's going to have a direct impact on the greater hospitality industry, again, our agriculture partners, for sure, bars, restaurants,” he said.

Speaking about the EU’s retaliation on Wednesday, Trump said, “I'm not knocking it. They're doing what they should be doing, perhaps, for the European Union, but it does create ill will. And as you know, we're going to be doing reciprocal tariffs, so whatever they charge us, we're charging them. Nobody can complain about that.”

The EU’s move comes as liquor stores across Canada have pulled American alcohol from shelves in response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian products.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, who is co-chair of the congressional bourbon caucus, said there seems to be no strategy behind Trump’s tariffs and they will hurt everyone with a hand in the bourbon industry.

“Everybody from the farmers who put the corn in the ground, to the coopers who put it in the barrel, to the union workers who put it in the bottle, to the people who drive it to the stores,” he told Spectrum News.

spiritsEUROPE, which represents Europe’s liquor producers, issued a statement Wednesday saying it was “extremely concerned” about the EU’s announcement on tariffs and that the tariffs would be “hugely damaging” to companies in the U.S. and the EU. 

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