On 13 & 14 October, DISCUS – the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States – visited Brussels as part of a trade mission to the EU. This visit presented an occasion for both spiritsEUROPE & DISCUS to showcase the level of integration of our sectors across the Atlantic and to call for both a permanent removal of retaliatory tariffs on EU & US spirits and for reinforced regulatory cooperation between the EU & the US on spirits.
Until recently, US & EU spirits were impacted by retaliatory tariffs as part of trade disputes unrelation to the sector:
These disputes and the tariffs imposed on spirits products were particularly hurtful, coupled with the disastrous impact of the covid crisis on the hospitality sector and the travel and retail sales channels. The suspension of sanctions linked to the Airbus-Boeing WTO dispute as of March 2021 has allowed exports of EU spirits to the US to swiftly recover, with an increase in value of +19% in 2021 compared with 2020. We applaud the EU-US agreement on large civil aircrafts, leading to the suspension of tariffs on unrelated products such as spirits for a period of 5 years. This decision is a major step, and we remain confident that it will lead to the eventual resolution of the underlying dispute, while providing welcome relief to our sectors and many others.
Likewise, the suspension of tariffs on US whiskey & Bourbon, agreed in October 2021 and which will be in place until the end of 2023, has proven very helpful for the industry. Many of our companies have heavily invested on both continents and have been damaged in both places as a result of transatlantic trade disputes and retaliatory measures taken against both US and EU spirits. The suspension of tariffs continues to support our recovery efforts, especially at a difficult time for the industry given high inflation rates and the increasing costs of production & transport.
However, the temporary suspension of tariffs does not mean that these conflicts have been resolved. No efforts should be spared to ensure that the temporary tariff suspensions of tariffs may be made permanent, so that the tariffs may never make an unwelcome return.
In recognition of the unique role of the spirits industry and the deep commercial and cultural ties between U.S. and EU producers, spiritsEUROPE & DISCUS have also called for an agreement to deepen bilateral cooperation on spirits trade, to achieve the following objectives:
1. Exchange & development of regulatory best practices for the labelling and certification of spirits;
2. Recognition of additional distinctive spirits/GIs categories and increased protection of EU GIs in the US;
3. Establishment of a working committee on trade in spirits, to boost transatlantic trade in spirits and assist in expanding opportunities for EU and U.S. spirits exports to other markets around the world.
We hope that such an agreement will put the transatlantic trading relationship on an even closer and more constructive footing in the future.
