'Absolute punch to the gut': Kentucky distiller reeling thanks to Trump's trade war

Thomas Bard, the owner of a small distillery in Kentucky, tells the Washington Post that his business has been thrown into turmoil ever since President Donald Trump launched a trade war with Canada.

According to Bard, liquor stores in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario had initially agreed to start selling his bourbon this year before Trump slapped blanket tariffs on Canada and the country responded by pulling American liquor from its shelves.

“It’s a huge deal when you get a new customer base,” Bard told the Post. “So for this to be, just be taken away from us... that’s an absolute punch to the gut.”

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Bard, whose distillery has also been selling whiskey to liquor stores in Alberta and British Columbia for the past two years, also tells the Post that it won't be easy to make up for the loss of Canadian business with more business in the U.S. given that many states are more highly regulated in terms of liquor distribution than the markets up north.

"It’s easier to get into Canada than it is to get into some other states here," he said, while adding that his business is "basically going to have to go back and start from scratch."

Canada is by far the largest export market for small American distilleries, craft breweries and wineries, notes the Post, which means that Trump's trade wars could have devastating impacts on those businesses.