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.

  • Nomorereddit@lemmy.today
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    3 hours ago

    Would it be that hard to show numbers on how much us consumption is down, and how much exports are down for this company?

    News be trash.

  • MrSulu@lemmy.ml
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    9 hours 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

    • FalschgeldFurkan@lemmy.world
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      8 hours 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

      • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
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        4 hours 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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          3 hours 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

      • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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        5 hours 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.

  • zeppo@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    I love whiskey, but fuck Kentucky. It would take a lot for the morons there to figure out Trump and republicans in general are not helping them. They did elect a Democrat governor at least, so that’s a good sign.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      not really, on the dem gov for a number of reasons. 2 of the worst senators are from there, Mitch mcconnel and rand paul.

      the only reason the gop even did not resist a DEm campaign there is because the last Republican one screwed over the economy the state so much, they needed a dem to reign in the state, plus he is an easy scapegoat for the gop if things go wrong.

      • booly@sh.itjust.works
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        5 minutes ago

        Andy Beshear remains popular and won reelection during the Biden presidency, after being elected during Trump’s first term. And before that, he served a 4-year term as the state’s elected Attorney General. So he’s won 3 state-wide elections in a row during the Trump era (2015, 2019, 2023). His electoral success there isn’t a fluke of any kind of backlash in either direction, but is a reflection of his political skill and popularity in the state.

        And his father, Steve Beshear, served four terms in statewide elected office as a Democrat, too.

        Understanding local and regional variation in politics is important for understanding how political power can be accumulated and used. And dismissing any Trump voting state as a lost cause is fundamentally ceding power to the fascists. No, we fight for every state, every district, every election cycle, and outside of elections as well.

  • Daftydux@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 hours ago

    Danm, what a pain it will be to bring up that still in a year. Also have to take down and clean all their vats. Remind me not to buy any jim beam made in 2027.

    At least maintenance will get free reign for once.

    With any luck they will sell and rebrand, beam is a dead brand.

    • beam is a dead brand

      Kind of a shame. Out of the big bourbon names, Jack, Jim, Evan, I think Beam has the best taste. Not like there isn’t much better bourbon out there, but it’s more expensive.

      Give me tequila over that stuff any day though.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      Not really, total CDN sales were barely 4% of revenues. Besides, of all the bourbon style whiskeys on the market, Jim Beam was by far the worst. Like drinking industrial solvent.

  • redlemace@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    Canada and the U.S. have since agreed to launch formal discussions to review their trade agreement

    I don’t think that’s gonna make a difference anymore. Reverting the 2025 decisions will not revert things. The sentiment has changed among the common people.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      The common people have the memories of goldfish and will go back to throwing billions across the border.

    • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      Canadian here. I don’t think trade discussions will improve much about the booze sales when the leader/rapist/businessman ruling america with an iron fist waves his pecker in our face and tells us how much he wants to own us. Bathtub gin is my drink of choice now. Who needs quality when you have freedom?

    • LordMayor@piefed.social
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      21 hours ago

      It’s abuser logic. “If I stop hitting you, we’re cool. There’s no problem, anymore. That is until I decide to hit you again.”

      That doesn’t work on everyone and eventually someone will hit back harder or gang up and take them down. Unfortunately, people let them get away with it for too long.

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        18 hours ago

        Yeah, but try explaining to an abusive narcissist that… they have to actually show a real dedication to changing themselves, and making things right.

        You basically can’t, because the idea that they could be flawed or mistaken in a fundamental way… well, that’s basically incomprehensible to them, beyond being some kind of insult toward them.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        10 hours ago

        That does seem to be the logic of even people on the left of American politics.

        They seem to think that voting for democrats will change anything. Nah, they need to fix their damn stupid political system before anyone will trust them again. Except of course they won’t because of a 250-year-old document who’s authors would be amazed to find has become almost religious dogma.

    • cogman@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Yup. It’s something that won’t be fixed for decades. Trump has seriously damaged the ability for the US to do international trade.

      • redlemace@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Yup. It’s something that won’t be fixed for decades. Trump has seriously damaged the ability for the US to do international trade.

        He went way beyond just trade affairs.

    • azimir@lemmy.ml
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      20 hours ago

      So far Canadians have been smart enough to hold the line. Don’t bend and don’t believe the liars in charge of the US. This administration would gladly invade anyone and subjugate them.

      Never 51. Elbows Up, Canada. It’s time to line brawl on the ice.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      20 hours ago

      … also the price of things.

      Corporations especially grocers just got a big chance to raise prices … even if the tariffs go away, none of them will bring the prices down again. They’ll just pocket the difference and let everyone pay the new high prices which will stay in place.

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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        10 hours ago

        what they did during/after covid was shrinkflation/cheapflationed thier products. it was very noticeable in consumables like toileteries/laundry, toothpaste, etc.

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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    20 hours ago

    The funniest thing is that ‘all American’ Jim Beam is owned by Suntory, a Japanese company.

    • NoTagBacks@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      51 minutes ago

      While it’s certainly true that Jim Beam can no longer honestly keep the label of ‘all American’ due to corporate structure, they have kept up much of the American tradition and culture around Kentucky bourbon by generally letting them run autonomously. However, to your point, that’s definitely not guaranteed to continue-especially if profits are gonna start being fucked with. American jobs and culture are under pressure from both trump and outside corporate organizations. It was already insulting enough that a faceless corporation took it upon itself to be a steward of a part of American culture and history, but then the shameless sellout? It’s that irresponsible behavior that makes these corporations so inherently unreliable and untrustworthy no matter how faithful they may act for however long.

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        3 hours ago

        Even Harley Davidson is close to bankruptcy. Dealers are closing every month. Bad news for audiologists.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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        20 hours ago

        Way back in 1981, Ronald Reagan looked upon post-Vietnam America and saw too options. One was to tax the rich heavily, institute massive government controls on energy production, and push a renewal of America’s aging heavy industries. The other was to cut taxes for the upper classes and encourage wild speculation.

        • krashmo@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          You say that like Reagan had some grand economic plan. He was an idiotic actor very similar to Trump. It’s true that tons of terrible policies can be traced back to his presidency but he wasn’t the mastermind of much of it in the same way that Trump doesn’t have a coherent plan now. They are both good examples of dumb, self serving outsiders being given too much power and listening to the wrong people.

          • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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            3 hours ago

            Reagan had senile dementia his entire time of office. He was submissive and did what his team told him to do.

          • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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            6 hours ago

            Reagan didn’t have a policy, but his team sure did.

            A lot of people got really rich in the 1980s and it wasn’t by chance.

            Don’t mistake the fact that bad things happened for incompetence.

            The destruction of the middle class wasn’t a bug, it was a feature.

    • 13igTyme@piefed.social
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      20 hours ago

      I occasionally travel with two people for work that love bourbon, but hate Jim Bean and call it garbage. Knowing now that it is owned by a Japanese company combined with their current understanding of blaming Biden for the current economy, really puts it together as to why they hate Jim Bean.

      These are also the same people that ask me how it’s like living two hours from the war torn and destroyed area known as Portland.

      • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
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        19 hours ago

        Eh, Jim Beam is generally considered cheaper, kinda bottom-shelf stuff these days. Fine for a bourbon and coke, but not really intended to be sipped neat. I wouldn’t really be surprised by a bourbon-lover turning their nose up at it, regardless of who owns the brand.

        • Botzo@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          They have some very premium brands as well, that definitely deserve praise: hardin’s creek, little book especially.

          Anything labeled Jim beam is swill to meh (except Lineage, but you’ll never see that on a shelf). The old grandad (bonded or 114) line is bang/buck.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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        19 hours ago

        Jim beam was in the “cheap rotgut” category for ages. They only fairly recently started trying to make decent stuff again, regardless of ownership.

        As to your colleagues… people can dislike mediocre whiskey and still be assholes.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        These are also the same people that ask me how it’s like living two hours from the war torn and destroyed area known as Portland.

        Propaganda is a helluva drug, that’s for sure.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        17 hours ago

        Jim Beam is 80 proof, while a lot of more expensive bourbon is more like 90 proof. Personally I prefer the lesser kick, and I live in the US, but do you think I’m going to be able to stock up on cheap Jim Beam? Hah, don’t bet on it.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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        17 hours ago

        Back in the 1970s Suntory Whiskey had a huge sign over Times Square in New York. The sign is visible in movies like Shaft. You couldn’t find Suntory in any American bar, but the company knew that Times Square was iconic and their sign would be seen all over the world.