The leading wine industry organizations in the EU and the U.S. have teamed up to recognize the importance of their long standing wine trade. Both the Wine Institute and Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) signed new documents requesting the immediate elimination of all tariffs on wine among other proposals.
“Tariffs increase costs and act as added taxes that American and EU consumers and businesses, at each level of the production and marketing supply chain, pay. Retaliatory tariffs create economic uncertainty and result in layoffs, deferred investments and price increases across entire markets,” say the organizations.
The full statement calls on both governments to preserve the wine trade partnership, eliminate all tariffs, and refrain from targeting wine in unrelated trade disputes.
In 2018, the total trade amount between the U.S. and EU reached $5.33 billion.
Source: Wine Institute, January 2020