The folks at the the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) had reason to celebrate — hopefully with a swig of bourbon — Wednesday evening, following the passage of free trade agreements (FTA) with Panama, South Korea and Columbia.
“Market opening agreements such as these are critical to improving our competitiveness in the global distilled spirits marketplace, and to growing jobs in the United States,” the liquor lobby’s president and CEO, Dr. Peter Cressy, said in a statement.
Cressy added that the trade agreements will help increase American spirits exports, particularly bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. According to DISCUS, provisions in the free trade agreements with all three countries stipulate that tariffs on American distilled spirits will ultimately be eliminated.
“These agreements will level the playing field for U.S. spirits and, in some cases, actually provide U.S. spirits a competitive advantage,” Cressy said. “For example, as soon as the U.S.-Korea FTA enters into force, the current 20 percent tariff on Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey will be completely eliminated. This is particularly important since Korea is one the largest spirits markets in the world.”
According to DISCUS, the value of U.S. spirits exports to Korea, Colombia and Panama has shot up 97 percent since 2006, to $16 million in 2010. Total American spirits exports exceeded $1 billion dollars last year.
The free trade agreements now go to the president for his signature. For the Washington’s liquor lobby, that will surely be worth a second swig.