Biden must step in to stop massive tariff hike on US liquor: lawmakers

The Biden administration must take action to prevent a massive increase in tariffs on U.S. spirits exports, a bipartisan group of lawmakers warned Tuesday.

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The lawmakers, led by Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging her to address retaliatory tariffs imposed by India on U.S. whiskey, rum and other spirits earlier this year.

The tariffs, which went into effect in February, were imposed in response to a U.S. decision to end a decades-long trade agreement that allowed India access to the U.S. market for certain products. Under the new tariffs, taxes on U.S. spirits exports to India rose from 150% to as high as 500%.

“The measures India imposed are extraordinary in scope and will have a devastating effect on many of our states’ distilleries,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is critical that the USTR take action to prevent the implementation of India’s trade actions and resume partnership discussions with the Government of India.”

The lawmakers argued that the tariffs “will disproportionately affect” states like Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, which have a long history of whiskey production and export.

The letter comes as the Biden administration looks to build on the Trump administration’s progress in addressing India’s trade practices, including the retaliatory tariffs. The lawmakers asked the USTR to consider “all appropriate diplomatic and legal steps to secure relief for U.S. spirits producers” and to keep them “from bearing significant costs due to India’s retaliatory tariffs.”

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