Will new tariffs affect your wine and whisky? St. Louis locals may have to ride it out
Proposing 200% tariffs on European liquor, concerns grow about Pres. Trump pressing a global trade war
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Stocks took a tumble, and industry groups started raising alarms, after President Donald Trump announced a potential 200% tariff against “CHAMPAGNES, & ALCHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES.”
Industry groups responded with comments like, “We want toasts, not tariffs.”
This is cited as being a reaction to a proposed 50% tariff on American whisky. Pres. Trump made the statement this morning on the platform Truth Social.
Industry groups quickly responded to the announcement, including the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States — which noted nearly 30 years of zero-for-zero tariffs between U.S. and European liquor buyers.
In a statement, the DISCUS said, “The U.S.-EU spirits sector was the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs from 1997 up until the EU imposed a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American Whiskey in 2018.”
The President of DISCUS said that due to the EU’s retaliatory tariff, American Whiskey exports to the EU, the largest American Whiskey export market, plunged 20%, from $552 million to $440 million (2018-2021). During the last three years that the tariffs have been suspended, American Whiskey exports to the EU surged nearly 60%, climbing from $439 million in 2021 to $699 million in 2024."
For locals in St. Louis, there could be impacts to restaurants and bars as they look at other types of wine. Robert Menendez, owner of Kirkwood’s Sunset 44, told First Alert 4 that people’s drinking habits and budgets could change.
The DISCUS pointed to the impact the spirits industry has on the global and American economies.
“The U.S. spirits sector s more than $200 billion in economic activity, 1.7 million jobs across production, distribution, hospitality and retail, and the purchase of 2.8 billion pounds of grains from American farmers. We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which benefits the hospitality industry and U.S. craft distillers who export their products. We want toasts, not tariffs.”
Avery Martinez covers water, ag & the environment for First Alert 4. He is also a Report for America Corps member, as well as a member of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. His coverage ranges from corn farms to hunting concerns, and local water rates to rancher mental health.
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