American whiskey sobering sales dilemma
Tariffs in the EU, Canada and Mexico are taking a toll on American whiskey producers’ sales. According to the Distilled Spirits Council 63 percent of American whiskey exports have faced retaliatory tariffs since June of 2018.
“The first and second quarter of last year our sales dried up entirely,” Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey founder and master distiller Herman Mihalich told the FOX Business Network’s ‘Mornings with Maria,’ referring to the impact of tariffs in Europe.
According to Mihalich, the distiller’s European importer lost interest due to the EU tariffs.
“After talking with our importer it was a clear loss of enthusiasm on their part to try to support pushing through that 25 percent tariff increase and we’ve really just lost complete sales there since second quarter of last year,” Mihalich said.
Mihalich reported it is impacting distillers across the country, explaining “It really has been widespread across other distilleries as well.”
With tariffs in Canada and Mexico impacting the industry as well, Mihalich responded to whether USMCA would help distillers.
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“The changes in Canada has already sparked some interest, We had lost business in Canada as well. We just started negotiations with an importer there to reenter the Canadian market,” according to Mihalich.