US trade chief touts TPP benefits for whiskey exports
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – United States Trade Representative Michael Froman is citing Tennessee whiskey as an example of why Congress should approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
Froman met with Tennessee whiskey makers on Friday and took a tour of Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery in Nashville.
Import duties on spirits of up to 45 percent would be slashed under the agreement between the U.S. and Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Tennessee’s whiskey exports were valued at $691 million in 2015.
Froman said President Barack Obama’s administration is pushing for Congress to approve the trade deal before the new president is inaugurated in January. The trade deal has become a focus of the presidential campaign, with both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump criticizing the agreement.
