Carve out from US tariffs for drinks sector a 'priority', says EU trade commissioner

Speaking in Wicklow on Thursday, Maros Sefcovic said the sector is a priority for the EU when seeking lower tariff rates than the existing 15% rate agreed with the Trump administration. Picture: Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty

A carve out from US tariffs for the drinks industry is "a priority" which should "clearly" happen, the EU's trade commissioner has said.

Speaking in Wicklow on Thursday, Maros Sefcovic said the sector is a priority for the EU when seeking lower tariff rates than the existing 15% rate agreed with the Trump administration.

Mr Sefcovic said that while the carve out was not achieved in the talks over the summer, he is hopeful a deal can be reached. However, he said a timeline is not clear.

“We’ve been working on that from day one and I believe that this is one sector which clearly should be included into the carve outs.

We’ve been very clear with our American partners that is one of the sectors where we have to come back to the situation before April 2 — because it’s important sector for both parties.

“So it’s on our to do list, raising with American partners but I do not have timeline when this could happen.”

The US is the largest international market for Irish whiskey, with exports to the US totalling around €420m per year. 

Meanwhile, overall drinks exports from Ireland to the US total €865m annually.

Ireland also remains the primary importer of US casks in the EU. Mr Sefcovic said this strong trading partnership makes the sector a priority.

“But we know that it’s a priority, because the sector is very strong, in the European Union and also I know that the supply chains are very much intertwined between the EU, Ireland and United States of America.”

Tánaiste and Minister for Trade Simon Harris said the case for a carve out is “compelling”, adding that Irish companies had decided against investment in the US, an argument he put to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington DC last week.

“So it’s a counter productive situation, I believe, in both directions, and I hope it’s something that we can work on the time ahead.”