The Bourbon Alliance has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and trade secretary Liz Truss MP to ‘free the spirit’ and remove tariffs.
In a letter submitted to the UK Department of International Trade, the Alliance has outlined the negative impacts the retaliatory 25% tariff on Bourbon and other American whiskeys are having on the UK’s hospitality sector, calling for their immediate removal.
The Bourbon Alliance, which is a coalition of industry stakeholders whose livelihoods depend on being able to import US whiskey, encouraged the UK government to do “the right thing and deliver on Johnson’s statement regarding the tariff”.
The call follows Johnson stating that “once we come out of the EU, those tariffs will not apply” during a campaign visit to a Scotch whisky distillery in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
The Alliance said it was now calling on the PM to deliver this promise, at the same time also urging Truss to deliver on her own promise to “see an urgent settlement of the dispute so we can remove these retaliatory tariffs on things like bourbon”.
The Alliance said it hoped that recent momentum in trans-Atlantic trade, and the successful resolution of the Boeing-Airbus dispute, would pave the way for a zero-to-zero trade agreement between the US and the UK.
“It’s time for the UK government to act in the national interest and remove these tariffs,” said Martha Dalton, founder of the Bourbon Alliance and director of Never Say Die Bourbon.
“These retaliatory tariffs don’t help the UK – in fact, investment has gone elsewhere in the world, UK consumers have paid over £55m in tariffs on imported American whiskies and businesses like mine have not been able to launch in the UK. Let’s build on the momentum in trans-Atlantic trade discussions, and to remove the tariffs to help reboot the UK economy,” she said.
Since the UK first imposed its tariffs on American whiskeys in June 2018, exports to the UK declined by 53%, according to the Alliance.
Following the recent five-year suspension of tariffs on UK and US distilled spirits, including Scotch whisky, in the WTO Boeing-Airbus disputes, the UK’s imposition of a 25% tariff on American whiskeys makes it the only spirits category subject to tariffs in connection to ongoing transatlantic trade disputes.
In March this year, the US has lifted tariffs on Scotch whisky for four months as leaders entered into negotiations to put a long-term solution in place.