American Whiskey Exports Decline in 2024

Exports of Bourbon and other American whiskies fell 5.4% during 2024, dragging down an otherwise successful year for U.S. spirits exports, according to data released today by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Overall, spirits exports hit a record $2.4 billion during 2024, up 10% compared to 2023. The increase was primarily due to increased exports of vodkas and cordials, along with inventory stocking later in the year in advance of the start of the Trump Administration and tariff uncertainty.

The European Union remains the largest single export market for U.S. whiskies, and has recovered all of the sales lost during the tariff years of 2018-2021, when the EU imposed a 25% tariff on American whiskies to retaliate for the first Trump Administration’s steel and aluminum import tariffs. Whiskey exports in 2021 totaled $439 million, and 2024’s $699 million in exports is far ahead of the pre-tariff $552 million recorded in 2018.

Australia ranked second among the top five export markets for whiskies at $113 million, followed by the United Kingdom ($86 million), Japan ($79 million), and Canada ($73 million). The decision by most Canadian provinces to boycott American spirits in their provincial liquor outlets is one key reason 2025 poses a lack of predictability, according to DISCUS CEO Chris Swonger. Other factors potentially affecting U.S. exports include the ongoing trade war with China, which imposes a 160% retaliatory tariff on U.S. spirits.

Swonger repeated his call for tariff-free trade in sports, noting that 86% of U.S. spirits exports go to countries that have eliminated tariffs on U.S. spirits. On the flip side of the equation, 98% of U.S. spirits imports come from countries that do not impose tariffs on U.S. spirits.