The U.S. and European Union agreed to a trade agreement Sunday that would set a 15% tariff on most goods, the Associated Press reported.

The agreement came as the result of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland. The deal at least temporarily thwarts the threat of much higher import tariffs on both sides.

Von der Leyen told the AP that the agreement “will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The whiskey industry stood to be heavily affected by the 50 percent tariffs Trump had been threatening since taking office. 

According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the imposition of the EU’s retaliatory tariff in 2018, during Trump’s first term, American Whiskey exports to the EU, the largest export market for American Whiskey, dropped by 20%, from $552 million to $440 million (2018-2021).

Additionally, since the tariffs were suspended in 2022, American Whiskey exports to the EU surged nearly 60%, climbing from $439 million in 2021 to $699 million in 2024. 

 “This is great news for U.S. and EU relations and we greatly appreciate President Trump’s leadership,” Chris Swonger, Distilled Spirits Council President and CEO, said in a statement. “We are optimistic that in the days ahead this positive meeting and agreement will lead to a return to zero-for-zero tariffs for U.S. and EU spirits products, which will benefit not only our nation’s distillers, but also the American workers and farmers who support them from grain to glass.

“For more than 20 years, large and small distilleries across the U.S. have flourished under a tariff-free relationship with the EU, our largest export market. It’s time to get back to toasts not tariffs.”

For more information, visit https://www.distilledspirits.org/.

Read more: Thousands in Spirits Sector Sign Anti-Tariffs Petition