What affects could the trade war between the U.S. and Canada have on Kentucky bourbon? Hear from a bourbon historian.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — President Donald Trump announced the end of trade talks with Canada Friday due to the country implementing a digital service tax for the American technology companies in a couple of days, on Amazon, Google, Facebook and others.
“It’s not going to work out well for Canada,” President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, Friday. “They were foolish to do it.”
He said the United States would impose new tariffs on Canada within the next week.
“It just means that bad news keeps coming,” said Louisville’s original bourbon historian, Michael Veach. “It can’t get any worse, but it ain’t going to get any better.”
Kentucky bourbon companies got caught in the trade war early, with Louisville-made bottles being taken off shelves in Canadian stores after the first round of tariffs.
“It’s going to hurt the bigger companies more than the smaller distillers because smaller distillers don’t depend upon international trade anyway, but [it] still hurts the industry as a whole,” Veach said.
The industry is also facing a culture change with a younger generation that doesn’t drink as much. Veach said they’re being pickier in the bottles they buy. He said there was a decline in bourbon sales in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, but he doesn’t foresee this happening again.
Bourbon sales are soft, but bourbon tourism is still skyrocketing for Louisville’s downtown. According to Louisville Tourism, bourbon attractions have increased every year since 2013, with attendance increasing as well..
Veach said the city needs to hold out hope, and believes a change in tariffs would only come in an election year.