Senators Press Tai to Reach Agreement With EU on Steel to Avoid Tariff Rebound on Whiskey
Seventeen senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are asking the U.S. trade representative to reach "an expedited agreement with the European Union" so that tariffs don't return on exported whiskey Jan. 1. That tariff would be 50% under the schedule the EU imposed as retaliation for the Section 232 tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports.
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Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Todd Young, R-Ind., led the letter sent Dec. 5 to USTR Katherine Tai. The EU lifted the tariffs for two years, to give the two sides time to negotiate a global arrangement on steel, which the EU expected would mean an end to any restrictions on European steel. Currently, steel and aluminum exports are subject to quarterly, product and country tariff rate quotas. "A permanent fix is needed," the senators said.
"American Whiskey has rebounded in the EU market over the past two years with these tariffs currently suspended," Distilled Spirits Council CEO Chris Swonger said in the news release announcing the letter. "A return of these debilitating tariffs would be a severe blow to U.S. distillers and bring this positive momentum to a screeching halt."