WRITTEN BY RICH MANNING
The
GREAT
UNKNOWN How Is the Spirits Industry Rolling with the Shifting Threat of Tariffs?
T
here are several reasons why tariffs hurt the distilling industry. Tariffs artificially inflate prices in foreign markets, making it tougher to reach overseas consumers. They make it tougher for newer brands to make international inroads. They can potentially cause craft brands to get buried deeper in brand portfolios that may find themselves needing to lean on familiar brands more. The current batch of tariffs and their on-again, off-again nature adds a new layer of frustration into the mix. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his penchant for treating tariffs like a stocks-shifting yo-yo has caused instability that’s made it tricky to plan for the future. As we burrow further into the first year of the current presidency, a few questions pop up: Will he continue to blink when other countries retaliate? Is this what we have in store for the next several years? Is there any hope that he’ll leave distilled spirits out of his game of economic chicken? It seems fair to say that there are no right or wrong answers to these inquiries. The responses tend to depend on perspective.
The FORMAL ELEMENT The spirits field (and the alcoholic beverage field as a whole) is a slice of the larger pie of industries impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Its laws and regulations demand that it’s viewed in isolation, particularly since these transcend domestic borders — you can’t produce tequila in the United States, for example. This provides advocacy organizations with the foundation needed to effectively push back against the proposed tariffs in their current form. “Rest assured, we are doing everything we can to untangle our industry from the tariffs,” explained Chris Swonger, president
and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS). “Our job is to protect market access for the American spirits market, which includes larger and craft brands. Doing so allows us to continue to tell the great American success story that is the spirits industry.” Swonger’s efforts to push the industry’s narrative forward with minimal tariff interference takes on many forms, from working with key organizational partners like the European Union and Spirits Canada to promote fair trade initiatives to encouraging industry involvement in the legislative process through DISCUS’ sister organization Spirits United. During the 2025 DISCUS convention in Washington, D.C. last March, the organization led industry professionals in attendance to the halls of Congress to meet with Congressional
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Our job is to protect market access for the American
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spirits market, which includes larger and craft brands.
Doing so allows us to continue to tell the great American
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success story that is the spirits industry.
— CHRIS SWONGER, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council
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