Wine Institute and Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV), the leading European wine association, signed a statement calling for the immediate elimination of all tariffs on wine. The statement also calls on governments to refrain from targeting wine in unrelated trade disputes, a concept known as “wine for wine.”
“Export markets are a key growth opportunity for US wineries, but tariffs of any kind stand in the way. It is time for all governments to recognize the unique benefits of the wine trade and eliminate tariffs once and for all,” said Robert P. “Bobby” Koch, Wine Institute president/CEO.
“A free wine trade environment is essential to preserve the longstanding efforts and investments of our wine companies,” said Jean-Marie Barillère, President of CEEV. “We urge authorities to protect our sector from being caught in the crossfire in unrelated trade disputes.”
Retaliatory tariffs, such as those imposed in the Airbus dispute, create economic uncertainty and result in layoffs, deferred investments and price increases across entire markets, the statement says.
The US and the EU are each other’s largest export markets, with total trade reaching $5.33 (€4.66) billion in 2018, creating jobs and investment on both sides of the Atlantic.
Tariff disputes aren’t disrupting EU wine sales just in the U.S. Indonesia is restricting imports of EU wine, spirits and dairy products in response to an EU declaration that palm oil isn’t a sustainable product because its production causes deforestation. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of palm oil.