The United States is suddenly looking less bubbly for European wines.
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. Wine sellers and importers said a tariff of that size would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S.
“I don’t think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne,” Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mt. Laurel Township, New Jersey, said.
Jeff Zacharia, president of fine wine retailer Zachys in Port Chester, New York, said 80% of the wine he sells is from Europe. Importers depend on European wines for a big part of their distribution system, he said, and there’s not enough U.S. wine to make up for that.
“This is just going to have a major negative impact on the whole U.S. wine industry in all aspects of it, including U.S. wineries,” he said.
Zacharia said there are so many unknowns right now he’s stopped buying European wine until the picture becomes clearer.
“It’s very hard to make preparations when as a business you don’t have a clear path forward,” he said. “Our preparations would be very different if it’s 200% compared to 100% compared to 10%.”
Wine and spirits from the 27-nation European Union made up 17% of the total consumed in the U.S. in 2023, according to IWSR, a global data and insight provider specializing in alcohol. Of that 17%, Italy accounted for 7% — mostly from wine – and French wine, cognac and vodka accounted for 5%.
Overall, the U.S. imports much more alcohol than it exports. The $26.6 billion worth of foreign-produced alcoholic beverages that entered the country in 2022 accounted for 14% percent of all U.S. agricultural imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. exported $3.9 billion worth of beer, wine and distilled spirits that year.
Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR U.S., said a 200% tariff would not be unprecedented but import duties of that size tend to be more targeted.
In 2020, China imposed tariffs as high as 218% on Australian wine, which caused exports to plunge by 90%, Lodewijks said. China lifted the tariffs last year, but by then Australia’s wine industry had taken a big hit. Australia’s wine trade to China was worth 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($710 million) annually before the tariffs were put in place.
Europe’s tax on American whiskey, which was unveiled in response to the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs, is expected to go into effect on April 1. Trump responded Thursday in a social media po