Tariffs of 25% were imposed on handbags and cosmetics — but not French wine or Champagne — that total $1.3 billion in value. And the U.S. Trade Representative Office said that while the effective date is Jan. 6, 2021, it will “continue to monitor the effect of the trade action and the progress of discussions with France, and may adopt appropriate modifications.”
This indicates USTR believes progress is being made on a solution, Robert M. Tobiassen, president, National Association of Beverage Importers, said.
But beer, wine and spirits remain under threat of additional tariffs arising from the Airbus trade dispute. This dispute could have far greater repercussions for bev/al than the digital service tax, since the U.S. is threatening up t0 100% tariffs on many European wines, spirits, beer and nonalcoholic beer.
The proposed tariffs would put hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs at risk “and dramatically increase the price of these products for consumers,” Tobiassen said, adding:
“All of this being done for a trade dispute in the large civil aircraft industry that has absolutely nothing to do with imported wines, spirits, beer, and nonalcoholic beer.”
NABI made available tool to submit comments to both USTR and a person’s congressional representatives. It can be found here, “USTR was stunned by the huge number of public comments during the last review and now is your opportunity to wow them with even more opposition comments,” NABI said, adding:
“Echo your voice by sharing this campaign with your colleagues, family, friends, and fellow social drinkers. Comments must be submitted by midnight on July 26, 2020.” That’s just 13 days away.