Trump's tariff wars forge rare bipartisan alliance in Kentucky as
bourbon makers fear escalation
[March 15, 2025] By
BRUCE SCHREINER
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — President Donald Trump's blunt-force use of
tariffs has forged a rare bipartisan alliance among Kentucky's top
leaders — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Sens. Mitch
McConnell and Rand Paul — in lamenting brewing trade wars that could
stagger the bourbon sector.
Bourbon distillers who invested time and money cultivating markets in
Europe and Canada are now worried about becoming “collateral damage” in
escalating tit-for-tat disputes. Trump's saber-rattling intensified this
week when he threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and
other spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff
on American whiskey.
In solidly Republican Kentucky, where Trump has dominated since his
first White House election in 2016, the governor and senators have been
in lockstep in their disapproval of the near daily drama regarding
tariffs. Beshear, who is seen as a potential presidential contender in
2028, has been especially critical.
“President Trump started this trade war, and we all knew that if he did,
other countries would have to respond,” Beshear said recently. “What
they’re going to do is raise prices on the American people. A president
who was elected to lower prices is actively taking steps that are
raising prices.”
McConnell, the former longtime Republican Senate leader, said millions
of American jobs – including thousands tied to bourbon production and
auto manufacturing in Kentucky – depend on policies that preserve free
and fair trade.
“I’m all for pushing back on predatory trade practices and leveling the
playing field for American producers, but I’m not a fan of tariffs,’’
McConnell said. “At the end of the day, tariffs drive up the cost of the
goods and services we all rely on, and American consumers pay the
price.”
Paul has called the tariff wars a big mistake that hurt his home state.
“From bourbon distillers to car manufacturers to makers of fences to the
builders of homes, to our farmers, nobody in Kentucky is coming up to me
and say, ‘please put tariffs on things,’” Paul said.
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Bottles and decorations are seen in the tasting area of The Bard
Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon
Cherry)
 “We need to back away from this,”
the senator added.
Kentucky set a record for exports in 2024 with $47.7 billion of its
products shipped globally, up 18.7% from the previous year, Beshear
said recently. Aerospace products and parts remained the Bluegrass
State's top export in 2024. Motor vehicles and pharmaceuticals were
other leading exports.
But it's a world-renowned Kentucky product, bourbon, that's become a
prime target for retaliation. In Canada, some liquor stores have
cleared American spirits from their shelves. Across the Atlantic,
the EU will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon and
motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans.
Those actions pose an immediate threat to an American-made success
story, built on the growing worldwide taste for bourbon, Tennessee
whiskey and other products. The EU is by far the biggest
international market for American whiskeys. In the last three years
when tariffs were suspended, American whiskey exports to the EU
surged nearly 60%, climbing from $439 million in 2021 to $699
million in 2024, according to the Distilled Spirits Council.
For Kentucky craft distiller Tom Bard, trade wars have temporarily
cut off opportunities to grow his brands in eastern Europe and
Canada. New purchase orders are on hold amid back-and-forth tariffs.
“We’re about to start momentum and now it’s basically been stopped
in its tracks,” said Bard, who with his wife, Kim, own The Bard
Distillery in Muhlenberg County in western Kentucky.
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