US lawmakers urge USTR Tai to seek removal of UK, EU whiskey tariffs
Business
WASHINGTON :Some 50 members of Congress on Monday urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to seek removal of 25per cent tariffs on American Whiskey imposed by the European Union and Britain in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The bipartisan group of House of Representatives members, led by Democrat John Yarmuth and Republican Andy Barr, both of Kentucky, warned that these tariffs, first imposed in June 2018 and scheduled to double to 50per cent on June 1, are damaging an American export success story.
“Since the tariffs were imposed, our American Whiskey exports to the EU have declined by 37per cent and to the UK by 53per cent,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter..
The lawmakers said they hoped that recent agreements to suspend separate whiskey tariffs related to a dispute over government subsidies given to plane makers Boeing Co and Airbus SE would lead to “prompt removal of all tariffs on U.S., EU and UK wine and distilled spirits.”