Tequila distributors in the United States have increased imports due to fear that the president-elect, Donald Trump, will impose 35% tariffs on Mexican products, as stated this Friday by the director of the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), Ramón González.
The director of the body that oversees the production of the Mexican drink indicated that these purchases were requested during the first two weeks of December, something unusual for the US market, which represents 83% of exports of tequila, a traditional Mexican drink.
González pointed out that they expected this to stop in the middle of the month, but “it turns out that there are large orders in the most important tequila market, also a product of the fear that exists over the issue of tariffs” in the US.
Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, has threatened to impose 35% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, his trading partners in the USMCA free trade agreement.
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Although the CRT will have clear total sales figures for 2024 until the second week of January, González considered that these transactions will allow the volume of exports achieved in 2023 to be maintained.
The CRT estimates to close the year with the production of 481 million liters of tequila, of which 393 million liters are exported, in addition to the consumption of 1,800,000 tons of agave, the plant from which tequila is made.
This in a year in which the overproduction of this plant caused a collapse of more than 92% in the price per kilo.
González pointed out that until November 30, they have recorded a production of 464,200,000 liters of tequila and the consumption of 1,700,000 tons of agave, lower figures than the same period in 2023.
Of the total production, 368 million 800,000 liters of tequila have been exported, mainly to the United States, but also to countries such as Germany and Spain, the largest buyers of the drink.
Until November, the CRT registered 42,302 agave producers in the five states that hold the Designation of Origin of tequila, as well as 206 companies producing the traditional Mexican drink and 2,935 brands linked to an authorized producer.
The director of the CRT announced that for the first half of 2025 they will seek recognition from the Guinness Record for the largest number of tequila bottles on display in the Tequila Lab museum, inaugurated at the beginning of December.
With information from EFE
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