I'm guessing you would be fine with that -in which case you're in the wrong party.
You would be wrong just from your going in assumptions.
...the idea of trying to force people to either change their lifestyle - or spend more money if they don't want to ...
Alcohol is a luxury. Nobody is forcing anybody to either spend more, or change lifestyles. Those are individual life choices.
Do I want to spend more on something? Not really. But like our freedom, our economic health (i.e. strong industry and competitive economy) has a cost and doesnt survive when we are undercut by cheap foreign slave labor or product dumping. Tariffs to allow our entrepreneurs and businesses to compete and stay healthy are in our national interests.
Prime examples of this have been steel, clothing, pharmaceutical industries over the last many decades. But the unfair practices have been across the board. While I dont know the particulars of the alcohol business, I suspect that Trump would not tariff EU alcohol unless he was matching what they tax similar US goods.
Who the eff is Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition? You cant honestly tell me that American brewers would not welcome foreign competitors prices being raised. It means they sell more local product. And if ultimately it drives down EU tariffs on American goods, that would be welcome too.
I can't even figure out what you're saying. They will have a choice of either consuming something else, consuming less or spending more. Those are the only possible choices. Period. What does labeling it a "luxury" have to do with it?
Those are individual life choices.
You mean the choice between changing what they consume or paying more right?
While I dont know the particulars of the alcohol business, I suspect that Trump would not tariff EU alcohol unless he was matching what they tax similar US goods.
You don't know what you're talking about. Trump is not matching tariffs at all. He's just imposing them on everything out there. If you think he's matching tariffs you haven't been paying attention.
Prior to the tariffs imposed during the [first] Trump administration, the EU had a 0% tariff on US whiskey. However, in June 2018, the EU imposed a 25% retaliatory tariff on American whiskey in response to the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The retaliatory tariff caused a significant drop in US whiskey exports to the EU. In 2021, American whiskey exports to the EU had fallen by 20% compared to 2018 levels, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
In 2023, the EU suspended the 25% retaliatory tariffs until March 31, 2025.
That is why US alcohol makers are against the tariffs.
I’m not a teetotaler, but I don’t criticize anyone who is-alcohol is a personal choice item, like tobacco, weed-legal or otherwise-etc none of those things are necessary for health or life. I really can’t object to tariffs on alcoholic beverages from another country-it isn’t like imported wine, beer and hard booze is inexpensive already-don’t want to pay more, then drink American booze.
On the rare occasions I do drink, it is US produced wine or beer-no imports-I like to support the industry right here. I have never been able to drink much-and never hard liquor-I have a small frame, do a physical job and follow a natural organic paleo-type diet-I have very little body fat to absorb alcohol. By the time I was 18, I knew that even one little glass of brandy or whiskey will put me under the table-but if I drank it, the whiskey would be from Kentucky, and the brandy from Northern Mexico-not France...