EU tariff threats are crushing more than 3,000 US distilleries [Video]

America’s proud history as one of the world’s top whiskey-producing nations is in grave danger from the trade war between the U.S. and European Union. If it wasn’t enough for Canada to rip our products off shelves, the EU’s threat of 50% tariffs on American whiskey, set to take effect on April 13, now jeopardizes decades of progress and market expansion in Europe.  

President Donald Trump is right: We must trade with the world in a fair and reciprocal manner. That’s a model that has served the spirits industry well for decades. Small whiskey distillers like me are now counting on the president to strike a deal to ensure zero-for-zero tariffs on American whiskey, starting with the EU.  

Much is at stake, including jobs,local agriculture and centuries of progress and pride in our craft. So ingrained is whiskey in American history that George Washington himself became a major distiller of rye whiskey after his presidency. But never has our legacy as a nation of distillers …