Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Prepare Your Taste Buds for Sticker Shock as Tariffs on European Wine, Food Take Hold
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 20, 2019

Share

CHABLIS, France — French vintners are begging for government aid. Italian farmers are scrambling for new export markets. And American shoppers are about to face supermarket sticker shock on European products.
That’s because some $7.5 billion in U.S. tariffs on European food, wine and other goods took effect Friday, in response to illegal EU subsidies to planemaker Airbus.
The U.S. is also accused of illegal subsidies — to Boeing — and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom threatened Friday to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products. But she held out hope that negotiations could prevent a trade war escalation that would have global fallout.
Louis Moreau feels the sting of the Trump administration’s wine tariffs personally.
A sixth-generation Chablis producer in Burgundy, he cut his teeth in California, where he lived for 10 years before taking over the family business in 1998.
Since then, he’s worked to expand his American business, traveling to the U.S. three times a year to promote his top-quality white wines. Around 8% of his exports, or roughly 17,000 bottles, go to the U.S. each year.
“Where is the logic? It’s not fair,” Moreau told The Associated Press. He said he and other Chablis producers feel they’re being held hostage to an unrelated political dispute.
“We have good relations with our U.S. consumers,” he said.

It’s Not Just France

“This whole thing — it’s a mess in a way — is really putting some stress, some tension on this relationship.”
The U.S. is the No. 1 market for French wine exports, and Moreau estimates the tariffs could cost him 80,000 euros ($90,000) in revenue over the next six months, a 20% loss of his U.S. business.

“This whole thing — it’s a mess in a way — is really putting some stress, some tension on this relationship.” — Louis Moreau
French wine exporters group FEVS asked for government help to compensate for an expected drop in sales as American consumers shun French varieties for cheaper wines from the U.S. or elsewhere.
And it’s not just France.
At Rome’s Testaccio market, which is packed with wheels of Parmesan and strung with cured meats, food shop owner Enzo Paoloantoni urged Italian politicians to fight harder to protect Italy’s economic interests.
Paoloantoni joked that “Trump was very nice to help Italians” by slapping tariffs on world-renowned delicacies that Italy prides itself on.
Italy’s main farm lobby has forecast a 20% drop in sales of agricultural products that represent half a billion euros in export value, and called on the government to help promote Italian goods in other export markets instead.
German Riesling white wine is among the many products that’s about to get more expensive for American shoppers. Germany’s government isn’t happy, but is staying prudent for now.

The Tariffs Come at a Particularly Bad Time for French Winemakers

“We regret that it’s come to the imposition of tariffs by the U.S., because the U.S. is of course harming itself, too, in the end,” Economy Ministry spokeswoman Beate Baron told reporters in Berlin. “Higher tariffs will weigh on the U.S. economy and U.S. consumers.”

“We regret that it’s come to the imposition of tariffs by the U.S., because the U.S. is of course harming itself, too, in the end. Higher tariffs will weigh on the U.S. economy and U.S. consumers.” — Economy Ministry spokeswoman Beate Baron
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the tariffs are “an aggressive gesture” and an “economic mistake” from the U.S.
Le Maire, on a three-day visit to Washington, said the decrease in French wine exports due to the tariffs is estimated to 300 million euros next year. He warned that European countries are ready to retaliate if they don’t reach a negotiated solution.
And 15 U.S. and EU spirits associations said in a letter sent to the Trump administration and the EU’s executive Commission that there are “no winners in a trade war” and called for an immediate end to tariffs on distilled spirits and wines.
“Our industries are collateral damage in trade disputes that have nothing to do with the beverage alcohol sector,” they said.
The tariffs come at a particularly bad time for French winemakers, who also feel threatened by Brexit, a contracting global economy, and a changing climate that is altering harvest patterns.
Wine association representatives have been meeting with French government officials to try to find ways to defer paying the tariffs, Moreau said.
On Friday, as the new rules took effect, workers in Moreau’s warehouse packaged more than 1,000 bottles for export — to Canada.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Arrest Two in Connection to Caleb Quick’s Murder

DON'T MISS

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

DON'T MISS

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

DON'T MISS

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

DON'T MISS

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

DON'T MISS

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

UP NEXT

Leo XIV’s Service to Poor Propelled Him to Papacy, Cardinals Say

UP NEXT

Iran to Send Russia Launchers for Short-Range Missiles, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Residents Stockpile Food, Rush to Bunkers as Conflict Rattles India and Pakistan

UP NEXT

Nitrous Oxide Recreational Use Risks: Brain Damage, Death, and Easy Access

UP NEXT

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican Who Became a Liberal Darling, Dies at 85

UP NEXT

Pope Leo XIV Celebrates First Mass as Pope and Calls His Election Both a Cross and a Blessing

UP NEXT

Israel Won’t Be Involved in New Gaza Aid Plan, Only in Security, US Envoy Says

UP NEXT

Iran Agrees to Fourth Round of Indirect Nuclear Talks With US on Sunday

UP NEXT

Selma Bear Sighting Prompts Police, Wildlife Response

UP NEXT

Pope Leo Once Levied Criticism at Trump and Vance. MAGA Is Not Amused

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

9 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

10 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

10 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

11 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

11 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

11 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

11 hours ago

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

11 hours ago

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

11 hours ago

First At-Home Test Kit for Cervical Cancer Approved by the FDA, Company Says

11 hours ago

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

Fresno Unified trustees on Wednesday will hear a claim for damages from a campus safety officer who alleges her supervisor, a top district o...

7 hours ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
7 hours ago

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

7 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Two in Connection to Caleb Quick’s Murder

9 hours ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
9 hours ago

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

Fresno County authorities are seeking the public’s help to find the suspect who killed Jesus Adrian Amador Jr., 22, of Huron, in a 2017 shooting. (Fresno County SO)
10 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

10 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

Photo of the front of Fresno Police Headquarters
11 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

11 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend