Trade Cases

Bourbon Producers Steel for Retaliatory Measures by EU
Written by Sandy Williams
July 10, 2017
U.S. bourbon exports are on the table for a retaliatory tax should Section 232 cut off EU steel exports. Bourbon, made almost exclusively in Kentucky, accounted for 20 percent of the $654 million of U.S. spirits sold to the European Union in 2016, according to a recent article in The Guardian.
Officials confirmed that U.S. whiskey exports are among the products targeted for a potential retaliatory response by the EU. At the G20 meetings last week, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would act within days against U.S. agricultural exports if import tariffs are imposed on steel from the European Union.
Bourbon, by Congressional declaration, can only be manufactured in the United States. The industry in Kentucky brings in $166 million in tax revenue for the state annually and employs nearly 17,500 people, according to the Kentucky Distillers Association.
Susan Reigler, president of the Bourbon Women Association, told The Guardian that the industry will be harmed if the whiskey exports are targeted by the EU. “It’s not just the people who work in the distilleries, or the bottling plants, but also people like the grain farmers and the truckers who transport it,” she said.
“Global markets are increasingly important to our signature industry, and we have worked hard over the past decade to open doors, level the playing field and eliminate discriminatory tariffs and policies that would put Kentucky bourbon at a competitive disadvantage,” said Eric Gregory, president of KDA.
Kentucky is home to Republican U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and supported Trump with a 62.5 percent vote in the election.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases

Steel Summit: Zekelman advocates for ‘Fortress North America’
Barry Zekelman has a unique vantage point from which to view today’s trade landscape. A Canadian national who owns operations in both the US and Canada, he has also had dialogue with both Canadian and American administrations.

Steel Summit: Execs urge clarity on trade/tariff policy, want stronger USMCA
Tariff policy dominated the discussion of the SMU Steel Summit trade panel on Tuesday afternoon. The message was clear: uncertainty is rattling the steel supply chain.

Final AD/CVD margins announced in coated steel trade case
The Commerce Department announced the final anti-dumping and countervailing duty (CVD) margins in the sprawling trade case investigating corrosion-resistant steel imports.

Canada agrees to drop most retaliatory tariffs
Canada has agreed to drop some retaliatory tariffs on US products, effective Sept. 1.

Price on trade: What a difference a year makes!
As everyone surely knows by now, the SMU Steel Summit starts on Monday in Atlanta, Ga. So, this is a great opportunity to reflect on how much has changed since the 2024 Summit. Certainly, no one could have imagined the wholesale and transformative changes to U.S. and global trade policy.