May 12th, 2025: tariffs' suspense effect and other news from the past few days
US-UK deal is not including spirits, new trade agreement between China and the US to be revealed, EU is listing whiskey in possible countermeasures and more
Monday is never a good day for news. Important things from the industry hardy happen during the weekend, but this does not mean we cannot find anything interesting.
This is from last week.
New trade deal announced between US and the UK
The 10% tariffs on imports still applies to most UK goods entering the US. The deal has reduced or removed tariffs on some of the UK's exports, like cars, steel and aluminium, but spirits are not included (just ethanol from the US). It’s news but it isn’t.
Here is an article by Ted Simmons on The Spirits Business:
US agrees UK trade deal but 10% tariff remains
Talking about tariffs, here is a look at rum from the US merchants’ side (China included). Report by Hank Tester on Cbs News.
Caribbean rum distillers struggling with industry's future as Trump continues imposing tariffs
New deal coming between US and China (?)
Talking about the US and China, more details about the trade deal between the two countries are expected to come today. Some progress have been made during trade talks in Switzerland and have just been announced.
Here is an article by Jamie Whitehead and Peter Hoskins on BBC:
US says 'deal' reached with China after trade talks
Whiskey is back in the EU’s list of possible countermeasures to US tariffs
Meanwhile, “the European Commission has launched a public consultation on a list of US imports which could become subject to EU countermeasures, if ongoing EU-US negotiations do not result in a mutually beneficial outcome and the removal of the US tariffs”. Yes, whiskey is in the list again.
Here it is:
Commission consults on possible countermeasures and readies WTO litigation in response to US tariffs
Hope we’ll get over this annoying situation soon.
Apart from tariffs, lawsuit against DIAGEO concerning its premium brands Casamigos and Don Julio tequila is spreading on Italian newspapers too. Here is an article by Oli Dodd on Drinks International:
Class action lawsuit accuses Diageo of misleading customers
Let’s move to some easier and more positive news: tourism
Air Canada will add more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean
A little help to Canadian spirit tourism in Mexico and the Caribbean will come from Air Canada, which is going to expand its schedule this winter. The new routes include to Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe), Fort-de-France (Martinique), Montego Bay (Jamaica), and Huatulco (Oaxaca, Mexico) and more.
You can read the news here on TravelWeek.ca:
Air Canada’s 2025-26 winter schedule includes 16% more capacity to Latin America
What do you think about the news? Let me know. You can leave a comment or send me a direct message.