TRUMP'S WAR ON WHISKY IS A DRAM SHAME.

• Author: Boehm, Eric

WHILE THE TRUMP administration's tariffs on steel, aluminum, and Chinese-made goods have earned most of the headlines, another more obscure set of Trump-backed import duties are hitting Americans squarely in the booze.

Since October, the U.S. has charged a new 25 percent tariff on single malt Scotch whisky, part of a broader set of levies targeting hundreds of European cultural items, including Italian pasta, German ham, and English wool. The 25 percent tariff is expected to cause scotch exports to the United States to drop by 20 percent over a year, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. "Consumer choice will diminish and Scotch whisky companies will start to lose market share," says Karen Betts, the trade group's executive director.

Practically, the tariff means that what used to be a $40 bottle of scotch is now going to set you back more than $50. Smaller distilleries will be particularly hard hit because the tariff specifically targets single malt Scotch whisky; blended varieties like those ones sold by most major brands are exempt, so those prices will remain the same. Some small-batch producers, like Fife-based Kingsbarns Distillery, are delaying plans to tap into the lucrative (and growing) U.S. market because of the new tariffs, according to Whisky Advocate, an industry publication.

Trump has repeatedly reached for tariffs--which are nothing more than taxes paid by American importers and consumers--in a misguided attempt to force...