Wine Spectator: Restaurants, Retailers, Importers Gear Up For More Trade Battles

In the days since the U.S. presidential election, American sommeliers, wine importers, and wine store owners have been preparing for battle. Regardless of their political affiliations and preferred candidate, they now face a common fear—the return of tariffs on wine.

In 2019, during the first Trump administration, the White House slapped 25% tariffs on wines from France, Spain, and Germany. American wine importers paid $239 million in tariffs over the next 18 months. The administration also considered imposing 100% tariffs on European sparkling wine.

Those companies are now gearing up to try and prevent new tariffs, lobbying through the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA) and spreading awareness of how the tariffs hurt American companies—not just importers but restaurants and wine shops—far more than they hurt foreign wineries. USWTA research found that every dollar of European wine sold in the U.S. generates approximately $4.50 for American businesses.

“I think the key is for the American wine-consuming public to understand that tariffs on imported wine harm American businesses significantly more than they do E.U. ones,” says Harmon Skurnik, an importer and a board member of the USWTA. “A French handbag company can manufacture and then import their own products to the U.S. and even open their own retail store in the U.S. With wine, it’s imported by a U.S. importer, who sells to a U.S. wine distributor, who sells to a U.S. restaurant or U.S. retailer. Because of this, most of the revenue generated from the sale of imported wine stays with U.S. businesses.”

During 2019 and 2020, importers and their winery clients dealt with the tariffs in several different ways. Many swallowed at least some of the cost, something they could do because times were relatively good and they hoped the tariffs were temporary. They rode out the economic pain for a little while rather than raise prices and risk losing customers.

But that was a pandemic and a whole lot of inflation ago. The wine market is much weaker now. Sales have been shrinking for three straight years. Simultaneously, inflation has led to rises in prices for things like labels, bottles, and shipping. Wineries and importers can’t withstand much more pain. Wine Spectator has the full story.

Tagged : Tariffs, Wine Spectator

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