Kevin O’Leary blames Trump’s threats to Canada for Jim Beam shuttering a distillery for a yr: ‘Self-inflicted mess’ | EUROtoday

Canadian businessman and Shark Tank decide Kevin O’Leary is blaming the commerce tensions between the U.S. and Canada for the short-term closure of a Jim Beam distillery.

Jim Beam, one of many largest makers of American whiskey globally, introduced it should halt manufacturing at its Clermont, Kentucky, distillery for one yr, beginning on January 1, 2026. The bourbon whiskey model plans to “invest in site enhancements” through the closure, based on an announcement.

The announcement comes as U.S. spirit exports to Canada are declining, with many Canadians boycotting American liquor in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his suggestion that the nation ought to be the 51st state.

When NewsNation requested O’Leary concerning the Kentucky distillery’s short-term closure, he labeled the difficulty a “specific problem” and known as on Canadian and U.S. officers to seek out frequent floor.

“Canada needs to get in a much more cooperative mode, and the U.S. has to get much more cooperative mode with Canada, because Canada has all the natural resources the U.S. needs. Water, paper, rare earth, commodities of all kinds all priced in U.S. dollars, gold, silver, you name it, they got it” O’Leary advised the community.

“There shouldn’t be any tariffs between those two countries,” he later added.

In a follow-up publish on X, O’Leary known as the scenario a “self-inflicted mess” and stated that “playing tariff games between neighbors is stupid and completely unnecessary.”

“When a major bourbon producer shuts down for a year, that’s not the market talking, that’s politics getting in the way of common sense,” O’Leary wrote.

“There shouldn’t be tariffs between allies. This hurts businesses on both sides of the border,” he added.

U.S. spirit exports to Canada plummeted 85 p.c within the second quarter of 2025, whereas complete U.S. spirit exports dropped 9 p.c in comparison with final yr, based on an October report by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Chris Swonger, the group’s CEO, blamed the drop on “persistent trade tensions.”

“There’s a growing concern that our international consumers are increasingly opting for domestically produced spirits or imports from countries other than the U.S., signaling a shift away from our great American spirits brands,” he stated in an announcement.

The president continues to say his tariffs are the easiest way ahead for the American economic system. Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning, “The TARIFFS are responsible for the GREAT USA Economic Numbers JUST ANNOUNCED…AND THEY WILL ONLY GET BETTER!”

While Jim Beam is briefly closing considered one of its distilleries, manufacturing will nonetheless proceed at different places, the corporate stated in an announcement.

“We’ve shared with our teams that while we will continue to distill at our [Freddie Booker Noe] craft distillery in Clermont and at our larger Booker Noe distillery in Boston, we plan to pause distillation at our main distillery on the James B. Beam campus for 2026 while we take the opportunity to invest in site enhancements,” the corporate’s assertion reads.

The Independent has contacted Jim Beam for remark.