President Donald Trump‘s tariffs have frustrated many lawmakers, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who vowed to oppose them even as Trump pared them down on Thursday.
Paul, a Kentucky senator since 2011, said he’s been told that the tariffs would hurt business in Kentucky and raise prices.
“Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said it will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes and cars,” he told reporters. “I’m going to continue to argue against tariffs.”
Paul’s comments come as Trump suspended most tariffs on Canada and Mexico, excluding products covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during his first term.
Most of Kentucky’s prominent politicians have been opposed to Trump’s tariffs. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said last month that tariffs will drive costs up, and Paul has called tariffs “simply taxes.”
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) has said he is worried tariffs will affect the famed Kentucky bourbon. “Federal tariffs imposed yesterday have already led to retaliatory actions on Kentucky bourbon that will be costly, disruptive, and harmful to many thousands of Kentucky men and women who support their families in the working industry,” Beshear said in a letter to the state’s federal delegation.
The most populous province in Canada, Ontario, said it would restrict American-made alcohol in response to the tariffs. “As part of Ontario’s response strategy to U.S. tariffs, the government of Ontario has directed LCBO to take operational steps to implement restrictions on all U.S. beverage alcohol sales and related imports into Ontario, effective immediately,” the government said in a statement.
A Louisville-based distiller, Brown-Forman, said Canada accounts for around 1% of their sales.
“Canada’s not a massive [country] for Brown–Forman,” CEO Lawson Whiting said in response. “It’s around 1% of our sales, we can withstand. It’s disappointing that some of the consumers aren’t gonna be able to get our bottle of Jack Daniels up there because it’s a big brand in Canada and popular. But we will see how this plays out.”
The Kentucky Distillers’ Association has lamented Canada’s retaliatory actions.
“Unfortunately, the return of retaliatory tariffs on American whiskey will have far-reaching consequences across Kentucky, home to 95 percent of the world’s Bourbon,” it said. “That means hardworking Americans—corn farmers, truckers, distillery workers, barrel makers, bartenders, servers and the communities and businesses built around Kentucky Bourbon will suffer.”
“Retaliatory measures against Bourbon harm these markets and jeopardize growth for years to come, including the unjust and disproportionate removal of American spirits from retail shelves and prohibition on new purchases of alcohol from American companies,” it added.
Now that Trump has pared back the tariffs, a measure in place until at least April 2, it’s unclear if the alcohol restrictions will be dropped.
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Paul suggested he’s not surprised that the tariffs would cause problems.
“Already they’re talking about exemptions because even the people for them acknowledge that there are real problems,” he said.
