Following a record-high for U.S. spirits exports in 2024, exports fell 9% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025, driven by ongoing trade tensions, according to a new report released today by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).
The data comes after a rollercoaster year of new tariffs and negotiations that have at times entangled U.S. spirits in a trade war. Among major trading partners, Canada remains the only country to retaliate against U.S. spirits in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Canada removed its retaliatory tariffs on spirits in September, but Canadian provinces continue to ban American spirits from shelves.
That ban can be seen in the numbers: The American Distilled Spirits Exports 2025 Mid-Year Report shows U.S. spirits exports plummeted 85% in Canada, falling below $10 million in the second quarter of 2025. U.S. spirits sales in Canada declined 68% in April 2025 whereas sales of Canadian and other imported spirits rose approximately 3.6% each.
Concern over unstable tariff policy has dried up the thirst for American spirits from foreign distributors before, a backlash that trade advocacy groups are now warning about.
“Persistent trade tensions are having an immediate and adverse effect on U.S. spirits exports,” said Chris Swonger, DISCUS president and CEO in a press release. “There’s a growing concern that our international consumers are increasingly opting for domestically produced spirits or imports from countries other than the U.S., signaling a shift away from our great American spirits brands.”
Last year U.S. spirits exports hit $2.4 billion, up nearly 10% compared to 2023. That growth represents an overall upwards trajectory of U.S. spirits exports, which has nearly quadrupled in two decades.
Declines in the second quarter of the year were particularly steep in exports to key markets including the EU, Canada, UK and Japan. The EU accounted for half of all U.S. spirits exports in 2024, and collectively, these four markets represented 70% of total exports by value. Exports to the EU – the U.S. spirits industry’s largest market – fell 12% to $290.3 million, while exports to the UK dropped 29% to $26.9 million and those to Japan decreased 23% to $21.4 million.
The second quarter data shows double-digit declines across several spirits categories, including American whiskey (-13%), vodka (-14%), rum (-6%), brandy (-12%) and cordials (-15%).
Whiskey in particular has been a pawn in the trade war since 2018 when the Trump administration slapped tariffs on imports of European steel and aluminum. The EU responded by unfurling retaliatory tariffs, singling out iconic American products, and costing whiskey distillers more than $100 million in revenue from 2018 to 2021, according to DISCUS.
Since then, U.S. whiskey distilleries have been building back market share in their biggest foreign market. While whiskey – and particularly larger suppliers – has rebounded, craft distillers have seen a massive decline in the overall craft spirits export market as a result of the tariffs during Trump’s first term. Last year, U.S. craft exports were about one-third of what they were in 2017.
International markets like the EU are becoming increasingly vital for American whiskey producers facing a slowdown in domestic sales and record-high inventory levels, added Swonger. Since 2012, American whiskey inventories have tripled, reaching nearly 1.5 billion proof gallons by the end of 2024. In contrast, domestic sales and exports totaled only 58 million and 45 million proof gallons, respectively.
Overall distilled spirits supplier sales across the board in the U.S. have remained stagnant in recent years, declining 1% from $37.7 billion in 2023 to $37.2 billion in 2024.
“With domestic demand slowing, it is critically important that U.S. distillers have the certainty of zero-for-zero tariffs with our key markets, including the EU and UK,” Swonger said. “The spirits sector is highly interconnected and, as a result, tariffs on imported spirits have wide-reaching consequences on the industry as a whole.”