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Donald Trump 's election victory is also raising fears among Europe's winegrowers about possible tariffs on wine. During the election campaign, Trump announced several times that he would impose a flat tariff of ten to 20 per cent on all imports into the USA. He could also reintroduce the punitive tariffs of 25 per cent on French wine and spirits imports introduced in October 2019 and valid until March 2021, which were only suspended for five years (until 2026). According to one commentator, wines and spirits with a protected designation of origin, such as champagne, scotch, cognac or tequila, are particularly at risk.
The US Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA) explained a few days ago how damaging tariffs on European wine would be for American retailers and restaurateurs. "When people talk about tariffs, they think the damage is abroad," said Ben Aneff, President of the USWTA. Tariffs on imported wine from France, Spain and Germany and spirits from the UK during Trump's first term had cost US restaurants, bars, retailers and distributors a lot of business. For every bottle of foreign wine purchased for ten dollars, US wine companies earned 4.52 dollars. The trade war with China had led to China doubling the tariffs on US wines - and thus harming US wineries exporting there.
Michael Kaiser, Director of Wine America, the only national trade association for the wine industry in the United States with 500 members, confirmed Aneff's statements: "Tariffs on imported wines also indirectly hurt US wine companies by weakening the wholesalers that US wineries rely on to distribute their wines." The Tax Foundation think tank has calculated that Trump's proposed tariff increases would increase US revenues by $524 billion annually, but would reduce employment by 684,000 full-time jobs.
Tighter immigration laws and the deportation of illegal immigrants could also cause problems for the wine industry in the United States, as the - mostly Mexican - labour force would then be missing in the cellars and vineyards.
(al / sources: justdrinks.com, wine-searcher, vitisphere, drinksbusiness)