Did Tariff Expectations Drive Up American Spirit Exports in 2024?

Under most conditions, an industry announcing a record dollar amount for exports in a particular year would be cause for celebration. But in what could best be described as a chaotic tariff policy — and the anticipation of it in 2024 — has complicated matters considerably. To wit: The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States recently released its report on exported spirits in 2024 and the $2.4 billion figure it leads off with comes with some big caveats.

Let’s start with the good news: That $2.4 billion is indeed a record-setting figure. That growth came from a 39% increase in exports to European markets; for the rest of the world, exports were down by 10%. (This may help explain why India and the U.S. negotiated a cut in bourbon tariffs earlier this year.) The bulk of those sales — 54% — came from American whiskey.

The reason why exports to Europe were up didn’t have to do with a sudden surge in popularity for bourbon in France and Germany, unfortunately. Instead, the report cites “concerns over the potential return of tariffs on American Whiskeys in 2025, which were suspended in 2022.”

You don’t have to dig too deeply into the report to find some less-than-implicit criticism of the current tariff situation. “Nearly 86% of U.S. spirits exports go to countries that have eliminated tariffs on U.S. spirits,” the report states. “Additionally, approximately 98% of spirits imports originate from countries that have eliminated tariffs on U.S. spirits exports.” It’s not difficult to do the math and predict that this report’s counterpart for 2025 could look very different.

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There are some other bright spots in this report, including data showing that exports of both vodka and cordials were up from 2023 to 2024. The vast majority of states — 43 — were represented in the nation’s exports; not surprisingly, Tennessee and Kentucky were atop that list by a wide margin, followed by Texas, Florida and Indiana.