Strong Dollar Signals Positive Sign for Foreign Alcoholic Importers

With the US dollar being at its best levels in more than a decade, foreign alcoholic importers are seizing this opportunity to offer more variety in their beer and wine selection which will come at a much lower price to US wholesale buyers.

Breaking down the numbers, foreign alcoholic beverage imports rose more than 6% last year. This equals the biggest year in more than two decades for foreign importers. US wholesale buyers are now taking advantage of the current price drop by buying larger quantities of alcohol from foreign importers. As a result, they have been able to increase what they are bringing into stores around the US, making available a larger supply and more varietal selection of foreign alcoholic beverages to consumers around the US.

But while this is great news for many, not everyone is thrilled. US domestic alcohol sales rose only 2% last year. This is the slowest growth in four years. To help combat this problem, recently, there has been more of a push in marketing and television ads for US domestic alcohol vendors such as Anheuser-Busch, and MillerCoors.

The recent worry of some foreign importers concerns the US House Republican border adjustment tax proposal. If passed, it could levy a 20% tax on imports of alcoholic beverages and reduce the currency advantage we are seeing now. For now, however, foreign importers and US wholesale buyers are seizing the opportunity while they still can.