Jack Daniel’s price to jump 10% thanks to Trump’s trade war, whiskey maker warns

Cost will increase after existing stockpiles run down over the next couple of months, drinks maker says

The price of Jack Daniel's will jump by around 10 per cent in the European Union thanks to import tariffs imposed by the bloc, the whiskey maker has warned.

Brussels slapped tariffs on a host of American products including bourbon whiskey, motorbikes and orange juice in retaliation for the Trump administration’s own tariffs on steel and aluminium.

A spokesperson for Jack Daniel's parent company Brown-Foreman said on Monday that prices could rise by 10 per cent once distributors' stockpiled supplies begin to run out over the next couple of months.

Rises will vary across different markets because local distributors and retailers also have a say in setting prices, the spokesperson said.

Brown-Foreman warned earlier this month that the prospect of a trade war was making it difficult for the company to accurately forecast future profits.

The firm makes around a quarter of its revenues in Europe and is not the only US company feeling the effects of an escalating trade war triggered by the US president.

On Monday it emerged that Harley-Davidson would move some production of its iconic motorbikes outside the US.

The motorcycle maker said the EU tariffs, which came into effect on 22 June, pushed up the levy on Harleys imported from the US to the EU from 6 per cent to 31 per cent.

The EU is Harley-Davidson’s second-biggest market in terms of revenue outside of the US.

“The tremendous cost increase, if passed onto its dealers and retail customers, would have an immediate and lasting detrimental impact to its business in the region, reducing customer access to Harley-Davidson products and negatively impacting the sustainability of its dealers’ businesses,” the manufacturer said.

Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose tariffs on European car manufacturers in what would be the latest round of a tit-for-tat exchange that threatens to damage world trade.