DISCUS Says TPA and TPP Are Good for American Booze

The Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) today announced its support for the bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill just introduced in the U.S. Senate, calling the legislation, “key to opening foreign markets to American spirits products.”

“This bill sends a signal to the rest of the world that the United States is serious about concluding important trade negotiations,” said outgoing Distilled Spirits Council President and CEO Peter H. Cressy. The membership of DISCUS includes both large and small distilled spirits companies who export their products to more than 130 countries.

Cressy noted that TPA legislation comes at a critical time, as the U.S. prepares to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement between the U.S. and 10 trading partners.

Past successful efforts by the United States to open foreign markets have contributed to the impressive gains the U.S. distilled spirits industry has made, and continues to make, in expanding U.S. exports. Global U.S. spirits exports have nearly tripled over the past decade, reaching more than $1.5 billion in 2014.

Most of that, more than $1 billion worth, is from exports of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. Major brands such as Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam now derive half or more of their sales from non-U.S. markets. It was the sustained growth of international markets that sparked the revival of American whiskey 20 years ago.