LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — American whiskey exports, battered by tariffs and the pandemic, started rebounding in 2021, but distillers have more ground to make up to fully recover, an industry group said.
What You Need To Know
- Exports of bourbon and whiskey are rebounding
- Distillers got caught up in a trans-Atlantic trade fight, but a deal was reached in late 2021 to lift the tariffs
- Exports rose 15% in 2021 compared to the previous year
Exports of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey reached $975 million in 2021, up 15% from the prior year, according to a report issued by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Last year’s total was still down 18% from the record high — about $1.2 billion in 2018.
“U.S. spirits exports are beginning to bounce back and that’s definitely a positive sign, but the value of 2021 exports remains far below levels achieved before the 2018 retaliatory tariffs kicked-in,” said Rob Maron, DISCUS Vice President of International Trade.
American whiskey distillers got caught up in a trans-Atlantic trade fight, causing deep drops in exports to the European Union — the industry’s biggest overseas market.
The EU imposed a retaliatory tariff on those spirits in mid-2018 in response to then-President Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on European steel and aluminum.
A deal was reached in late 2021 to lift those tariffs on American spirits.
Tennessee is the nation’s leading spirits exporter, followed by Kentucky.