Diageo India says tequila proving tariff-proof

26 February, 2025

At the country's first Bar Summit, Diageo India asserted that the tequila category's growth has shown no indication of slowing despite the country's high tariffs on imported beverage alcohol.

At present, all imported liquors are slapped with a 150% tariff except for bourbon which saw its levies slashed to 100% following criticism from Donald Trump.

Ashish Parikh, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Diageo India, said in the summit’s ‘Agave Culture in India: Smoothing out the thorns’ talk: “Tariffs or no tariffs, I think tequila is here to stay. We are moving really fast (in India). 

"Tequila in India has been the fastest growing spirit for the last two years and should be for the next three years," Parikh continued.

“(The category) is growing fast and with our global brands like Don Julio, we are just getting started. We have not seen pricing resistance so far but we’ll see what happens later. There’s so much to be done in terms of category development and presence in more cities."





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