The Comité Européen des Enterprises Vins (CEEV) has filed a complaint to request that the European Commission opens an infringement procedure against Ireland's controversial plans for new alcohol labelling legislation.
Hoping to inoculate whiskey and wine from this risk, 50 members of Congress wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai
ADVERTISEMENT
Here’s what the letter says: Biden should “secure the immediate suspension of tariffs on American Whiskey and secure agreements that result in the removal of
all tariffs on US, EU, and UK distilled spirits and wine.” Straightforward, right? Not really.
In normal times, U.S., UK and EU whiskey and wine tariffs are zero. This means the letter is looking to rein in retaliatory tariffs. But how?
One interpretation is that the letter simply wants a continuation of the tariff suspension in aircraft but expanded to cover for the retaliatory strikes over steel and aluminum. Sure, but there is reason to suspect that there’s more to it. That’s because the letter takes its cues from a “statement of principle” penned last January by the EU’s Comité Européen des Enterprises Vins and the U.S.’s Wine Institute. This statement starts by