UK Tariff on American Whiskey Removed!

In the midst of all the negative news surrounding the global supply chain disruption comes a break of positivity. In some very great news for the alcohol beverage industry, yesterday the U.S. and UK announced an agreement in the steel and aluminum dispute, under which the UK will remove its 25% retaliatory tariff on American Whiskeys effective June 1, 2022 and remove the threat of retaliatory tariffs on American wines. The announcement from the Department of Commerce can be found here. With the removal of this tariff, distilled spirits traded between the U.S. and UK/EU are once again duty-free!

Our industry partner DISCUS is issuing a press statement in conjunction with their Toasts Not Tariffs (TNT) Coalition which we have attached here as well. While this is a great development for the alcohol beverage industry, the ultimate goal of the Coalition is to secure the permanent removal of U.S., EU, and UK tariffs on distilled spirits and wines. While we have made significant progress over the last year, our work is not done. The U.S. tariffs on imported EU and UK wines are suspended for five years, and EU tariffs on U.S. rum, brandy and vodka are suspended five years and its tariff on American Whiskey is suspended for two years. Additional background can be found here. WSSA will continue to support DISCUS and their Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition until the tariffs are permanently removed.