US whiskey industry staggering as exports to EU fall through the floor

If you're a friend of Jack Daniels or you like to gobble Wild Turkey, you may be in for a shock.

Ever since the European Union imposed 25% tariffs on U.S. whiskey in June last year, this American industry is no longer seeing top shelf profits.

Craft distillery Mountain Laurel Spirits lost 10% of its sales overnight, as its European distributor simply stopped buying its award-winning product, Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey.

The owner Mountain Laurel Spirits, Herman Mihalich, says that they didn't lose their clients, but "they stopped buying for the time being, so we're in a bit of a hiatus with them until they find out where this thing is going."

This distillery is not the only one suffering.

The Distilled Spirits Council industry group says U.S. whiskey exports to Europe fell more than 20% from June 2018 to June this year.

The group also warns that if the EU - U.S. conflict gets worse, around 11,000 jobs are at stake.

Something it's expected since Washington is planning to add more tariffs, this fall, on European spirits and wine of around 1.6 billion euros.

The EU's decision to impose tariffs on whiskey was a response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.