European Union ministers are set to urge top US trade officials today to apply more of the July EU-US trade deal, including cutting US tariffs on EU steel and removing them for EU goods such as wine and spirits.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet EU ministers responsible for trade on their first trips to Brussels since taking office.
The bloc additionally wants a broader range of its products subject only to low pre-Trump duties. These could include wine and spirits, olives and pasta.
It has been a turbulent year for the global drinks sector marked by tariffs, trade tensions, uncertainty, closures, and production disruptions.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Chair of Drinks Ireland and founder of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin,Pat Rigneysaid he is hopeful that tariffs will be reduced.
"We started the ye ar with zero tariffs, then there was a threat of 50%, then we went to 10%, and now we're at 15%," said Mr Rigney.
"We need to get back to zero for zero as soon as possible, which we had been since 2017, 2018 and we have thrived, and our cousins in the US and the industry also want to get back to zero for zero," he said.
"It's doing nobody any favours to have a tariff on exports to the US at the moment," he added.
Mr Rigney is currently in Japan as part of an Asian trade trip to develop market diversification.
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"It was always an important market, but with 50% of our exports over time to the United States, we've had a lot of focus in that area and Europe,"he said.
"Now we're looking at Asia, we're in Japan right now signing up a new importer and I've just come from China," said Mr Rigney
"There's lots of opportunity here, but it is expensive and it does take time, you have to be here in the marketplace, you have to be front facing and you need to be very resilient to get things up and running in this part of the world," he explained.
The maker of Drumshambo Gunpowder Irish Gin is coming to the end of his two year term as Chair of Drinks Ireland.
Despite a turbulent year for the sector, Mr Rigney remains positive about what lies ahead.
"My overriding thought is one of pride in the industry over the last number of years, the amount of work that's gone into starting new distilleries around the country in every county, and while it is challenging, they're a very resilient bunch and I'm very optimistic about the future," he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
