American Whiskey Distillers accumulates for Trump’s 2nd trade war

Ryan Bivens, a Kentucky cereal farmer who sells corn to one of the largest producers of Bourbon and Whiskey in America, worked last year while he was facing higher production costs by persistent inflation.

President Trump’s trade war is about to worsen this economic pain.

The United States industries are preparing at higher prices for the imports they need to make its products, as well as new export restrictions, countries around the world are preparing to retaliate against Mr. Trump’s prices. The American whiskey industry has become the favorite target of these reprisals, and the return of flame will be particularly painful for the distillers and the companies that provide them, from farmers to barrel manufacturers.

While Mr. Trump aims to protect national sectors such as steel and aluminum, his blunt strategy is to put economic pressure on other American industries, hitting many workers who have supported him in the red states and helped to propel him to the presidency.

“It happens at a moment quite difficult for us right now,” said Bivens, a republican state representative who has a corn, soy and 10,000 acres farm in Hodgenville. “We don’t want to see it happening for a long time – we can’t afford it.”

Mr. Bivens supports Mr. Trump’s efforts to negotiate better trade agreements. But his business could suffer if the American distilleries of Bourbon, which are strongly based on corn, were to pass the orders for his harvest. He also faces the pressure of other directions: Friday, China announced new prices for reprisal on soybeans, which Mr. Bivens exports.

Mr. Trump’s radical rates have launched a trade war that many American companies have been feared for a long time. The European Union has announced its intention to impose prices of 50% on all American whiskey in response to Mr. Trump’s prices in steel and aluminum, which prompted the president to threaten 200% of European wine prices and other alcohols if the block followed. Canada has also imposed 25% prices on American whiskey and, in some provinces, brands such as Jack Daniel have been removed from store shelves.