Proposed tariffs on European alcohol concern some Tulsa business owners

Some people in the liquor industry are worried about President Donald Trump’s plan to put a tariff on alcohol coming from countries in the European Union.

The President says the tariffs could reach 200% if they don’t remove their proposed 50% tariff on whiskey to the U.S.

LEARN MORE: What are tariffs, and how could they affect you?

LIQUOR STORES PREPARING

The shelves of Sheridan Discount Liquor are stocked with brands from both the United States and from around the world.

"There's a lot of specific categories of wine, of our brandies, cognacs, different liqueurs, Frangelico, a lot of different random things that maybe you've heard the brand name but you've never thought about where is this item made, where does it come from,” said Abby Coble, the Manager of Sheridan Discount Liquor.

Coble says customers have already started talking about what the tariffs will mean.

"People calling in saying, hey did you get any more information?” said Coble. “Have you heard anything? Do I need to switch brands, what are we going to do? Are you going to lose this product entirely? I'm hopeful that doesn't happen, but I can see if those increases are enough, the distributors are just not going to carry those products."

Coble says she understands wanting to grow American businesses, but still worries about the prices the customer will have to pay.

"We will do everything we can to keep it down, but once it comes to a certain point, we have to legally mark things up a certain amount,” said Coble. “We can't sell it unless we raise those prices. It can be very shocking for the consumer and very upsetting."

She says liquor stores aren’t sure what the future looks like, but they are doing everything they can to prepare.

"We never know exactly what will happen, we can just see the writing on the wall, going in the direction, prices can only go up to be able to compensate for those things,” said Coble.

WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS SAYING

President Trump says the 200% tariffs on alcohol coming from the EU is in response to their 50% tariff on whiskey.

The President says it will be a good thing for American wine and champagne production.

The President has also previously claimed other countries, like Canada, have put high tariffs on American goods.

WHAT THE EU IS SAYING

The EU has previously spoken out against the President’s tariffs, calling them unjustifiable, saying they are bad for trade and harmful to businesses and customers.

The EU says it plans to put tariffs in place to match the economic impact of the U.S. tariffs.

More information here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_740