Trump’s Trade War Damaging Washington State Craft Distillers

According to a report from KUOW, the incipient trade war started by President Trump’s protectionist tariffs with China and most of America’s allies is harming business for more than just Kentucky distillers. The distress is being felt in the Pacific Northwest as well, where Washington craft distillers are losing significant sales.

American Whiskey has been universally targeted in the counter-tariffs imposed by American trading partners, a move widely believed to target Kentucky in particular. The state is home to an $8.5 billion bourbon industry, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the state’s senior U.S. Senator. Observers both in politics and in whiskey circles believe that foreign leaders hope to put the vise on McConnell by squeezing the bourbon industry.

However, the impact of those measures is being felt well outside of Kentucky. Washington’s Dry Fly Distilling said sales of 2,000 cases of their whiskey being exported to Canada, representing roughly a tenth of his sales, were canceled after the retaliatory tariffs were enacted. The impact at Dry Fly has a knock-on effect, as the distillery must now curb production, which means less orders for grain, bottles and other products and services.

Another Washington distillery, OOLA, expressed woes similar to those previously voiced by Amir Peay of Lexington, Kentucky’s James E. Pepper Distillery. The tariffs have forced OOLA to abandon their plans to expand distribution to Europe, which they hoped would increase sales by a third.