Trade war with Canada has contributed to a significant decline in U.S. liquor sales

Jim Beam, one of the largest makers of American whiskey globally, is shutting down bourbon production at one of its Kentucky distilleries for a year.

The move comes amid Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada, which has contributed to a significant decline in U.S. liquor sales after the country ushered in a boycott of American booze, and as more young adults are cutting back on drinking.

Jim Beam, owned by Suntory Global Spirits, is one of Kentucky’s biggest bourbon producers.

The Bluegrass state’s $9 billion whiskey bourbon industry has been struggling to manage its abundant supply of liquor against the drop in demand.

  • MrSulu@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    Are there still significant numbers of people that believe Trump understands the economy or are the minority morons just getting louder, with support from Russia? Were they always just 30-50% Russian as per the recent issue identified on r/conservative

    • plyth@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      I believe that this is backwards. Trump is fully backed by the US billionaires. There is no opposition among them, which would have financed an impeachment.

      This makes Trump’s Russian links secondary. I cannot imagine the billionaires to let a guy win who could betray them and their global influence.

      Now the success of China demands drastic changes. The Russian links allow the media to shift blame constantly. It would be less convenient if people wouldn’t look for the origin of problems in Russia.

      The tariff policy on China is necessary to shift production back to the US. The new leverage on other countries is an additional benefit. Like most things this won’t be Trump’s plan but attributing it to him prevents people from asking more questions. Project 2025 exists. It’s neither made by Trump nor Russia.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        The tariff policy on China is necessary to shift production back to the US

        This would be true if congress was working out the tariffs and setting them into law with a long term strategy, but the crazy “tariff situation may change every 6 months and the methods will change from president to president” situation will never inspire long term investment in the US.

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        You are extremely naive if you think tariffs will move production back to the US. Affordable the health care coverage for employers would have a much more profound effect.

        • JollyBrancher@sh.itjust.works
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          Anecdotally, I know some folks who work under the UAW. Before/after a recent round of significant layoffs because of these big, beautiful tariffs, even the union leadership was spouting off how manufacturing would return to the US within years and it would be “worth it.” Some of the workers who already didn’t want to jump in bed with Trump ate it up. You would think at least leadership in a massive union overseeing any manufacturing/production would at least understand how this was a bad move for their whole organization, but here we are.

          • plyth@feddit.org
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            1 day ago

            Why should tariffs not work? What else could bring back manufacturing?

            • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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              1 day ago

              Surely if you want to force manufacturing back to a country via tarrifs you need to be smart and have a graduated tarrif over say 15 years increasing annually. That puts the market on notice but more importantly gives time for infrastructure and skills to be developed without immediately fucking over the population

              • plyth@feddit.org
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                1 day ago

                There is no time for that. The military supposedly is preparing for a war with China as early as 2027, but more likely is 2030 when Europe wants to be ready for Russia.

          • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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            1 day ago

            The idea behind tarrifs, is that they’ll make non-American goods more expensive than American goods, and people will choose the less expensive option.

            The problem is, that’s not happening. There often isn’t a 100% American made option, most “made in the USA” still relies on material imports, which are tarrifed, so their prices went up too.

            There isn’t enough US materials, so even if you source local aluminum, the demand has outpaced the supply, so the cost has gone up.

            Then there’s labor, where manufacturing typically imports labor too, but they’re being deported, and domestic labor costs more, so prices have gone up.

            Tarrifs only work if theres a ton of legislation impacting the companies themselves, because they will never take a voluntary decrease in profit.

            • plyth@feddit.org
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              1 day ago

              So it’s also an additional tax that reduces American resource consumption which is a burden. But overall the idea should work. Step by step local producers can create products until everything can be sourced in the US.

              • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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                1 day ago

                But overall the idea should work.

                Not really. Just tarrifs don’t work, because it would require companies to voluntarily reduce profits for a period of time, and publicly traded companies get sued by shareholders if they do stuff like that.

                • plyth@feddit.org
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                  1 day ago

                  I don’t understand why. Do you mean that companies have to make investments in production lines in the US which reduces profits?

                  The shortage of local aluminum means that somebody can build a new plant because the tariffs allow them to make a profit.

                  • subtleorbit@sh.itjust.works
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                    1 day ago

                    Do you understand anything about the aluminum market? That would be a starting point.

                    The issue isn’t willingness to invest, it’s constraints. The US doesn’t have much bauxite, and primary aluminum smelting needs huge amounts of very cheap, stable electricity. Building a new smelter costs billions and takes years.

                  • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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                    1 day ago

                    The shortage of local aluminum means that somebody can build a new plant because the tariffs allow them to make a profit.

                    Who? Which supplier do you think will tell their shareholders that they’re not getting huge dividends from the tariffs?

        • SippyCup@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          The loyalists in the party base?

          Yes. They believe he is working magic, and will do so until they are personally impacted in a major way.

          They have tied their personality to him, and as such will not allow any facts to alter their warped perception of reality as that would threaten their ego.

          These people live in the Id. The only time the reasoning centers of their brains get a workout is in justifying their continued belief that Orange Man Good, somehow.

    • FalschgeldFurkan@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Trump probably understands economy, I think he messes around with trade so that him and his buddies can do some inside trading while throwing everyone else under the bus

      • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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        2 days ago

        That is what business is for him. That is what business is for most businessmen. It is an enterprise to ultimately just enrich themselves and their cronies, not to provide a service to many.

        People who have been saying ‘we need a businessman, not a politician, for a president’ are either incredibly naive or incredibly evil.

      • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        No, Trump is a dumbass and has no plan. He said “tariffs” once and now he has to go all in on it no matter what because he can’t admit he was ever wrong about anything.

        • FalschgeldFurkan@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          It’s just what it looks like to me, and that is way more evil than simply not understanding economy. Regardless, I agree with you that he’s a dumbass