Following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a reciprocal tariff plan, under which the United States will impose 20% tariffs on EU products, including wines, the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) is speaking out against a decision that will hit the main wine export market for the European sector. In 2024, in fact, 4.88 billion euros of EU wine were shipped to the US, with exports to the United States representing 28% of the total value of EU wine exports.
“The announced reciprocal tariffs on EU wines will damage hardly EU wine companies and would create economic uncertainty and result in layoffs, deferred investments and price increases. Targeting EU wine will only make losers on both sides of the Atlantic”, said Marzia Varvaglione, President of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV).
“The US wine market is fundamental for the economic sustainability of the EU wine sector. There is no alternative wine market that could compensate the loss of the US market”, she added.
US Tariffs, EU Wine Companies: “Transatlantic Trade Has Always Been Free and Fair”
The EU and US wine sectors have maintained close cooperation for years and have strongly supported free and fair trade, as well as open markets for wine, explains the official note of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins. An understanding between the sectors, highlights the CEEV, which took the form, in 2020, of a joint declaration, the EU-US Declaration of Principles on Trade in the Wine Sector, which underlines the importance of free and fair trade in the wine sector.
Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, Secretary-General of CEEV, commented on the US reciprocal tariffs, stating:
“The imposition of reciprocal duties on Transatlantic wine trade appears unjustified considering the minimal difference in duties between the EU and US tariffs on wine products. Together with our US colleagues, we have consistently opposed the imposition of tariffs for wine around the world and have consistently called to remove the duties applying in our markets”. “We call on the EU and the US to renew efforts to find a negotiated solution that would prevent tariffs from being applied to wine products. This solution could take the form of a Wine Fair and Reciprocal Trade Deal”.
