Rick Tigner, who was named Jackson Family Wines CEO in 2015, noted in 1990 imports were about 25% of wine sales, and now are closer to 40%. “By 2050, there will be more imported wine in America than American made wines.”
“We let import wines into America almost for free. On the world stage, we are getting killed. Imagine owning a business where you’re taxed up to 30-60+% to sell wine in a country that sells its wine to the U.S. with far less tariffs. American wines are at a disadvantage. We should have fair wine trade which means getting other wine producing countries to lower their tariffs, taxes and duties. That’s why I believe in a reciprocal taxation policy.”
“If we were to continue selling wine from other nations, we would be teaching the next generation to drink imported wine,” he said. “… There are 125,000 wine SKUs in the U.S. with more imported SKUs arriving all the time from some of the 150,000 wineries on our planet.”