Three spirits trade associations have flagged the “highly interconnected” status of their industry in North America as the first shots in a potential trade war in the region are fired.
Spirits Canada, the Mexican Chamber of the Tequila Industry (CNIT) and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) have released a joint-statement today (3 February), expressing their concerns ahead of tomorrow’s implementation of a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports into the US. The move, announced by President Donald Trump over the weekend, “will significantly harm all three countries and lead to a cycle of retaliatory tariffs that negatively impacts our shared industry”, the trio have predicted.
As well as calling for “constructive dialogue” to settle the differences between the US and its neighbours, the organisations also noted how in spirits, “many companies own brands in all three countries”.
“Since the 1990s, trade in spirits in North America has been largely tariff-free, resulting in significant growth,” the statement reads. “However, recently the North American spirits sector is experiencing a slowdown due to the continued impact of Covid and economic factors like inflation.
“This slowdown will be exacerbated if a cycle of tariffs and matching retaliation begins, and the impact will be felt not just by the distilled spirits industry, but also by consumers and the struggling hospitality sector, which is still recovering from the pandemic.”
Last weekend’s pronouncement from President Trump has prompted a brace of responses in Canada today, with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s unit in the country pushing the domestic production of many of its brands to consumers and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario preparing the removal of all US-sourced alcohol from its retail stores and website.
