Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

With all that has been going on around the world I've lost track of where the USA is wrt tariffs on European wines. I understood they backed off a proposed 100% tariff on French/Spanish German wines wine I came across this article that says as of early March 2020 there is still a 25% tariff in place but only on wines under 14% ABV!! Here we go again. That seems a convenient go around for most if they label their wines above 14% and avoid the added tariffs. From articles I've read recently the impact of the tariffs in place since Oct haven't been felt in The USA yet as most buyers already had their orders in before Oct and the ultimate impact will come soon. Can anyone clarify as I haven't heard a big uproar about rising costs in the USA .

https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/03/wine ... usion.html

Danny,
Here's a note from Daniel Posner last week on an offering of Chateau Latour's third wine: Pauillac de Latour

We have been so busy with other things in the world that we no longer speak of the "deadly" wine tariffs. 25% is still alive and well on most wines coming in from Europe. I bring this up because there has been a strong push to eliminate these tariffs imposed on American owned businesses in light of the current landscape in the wine world. To no avail. The tariffs must go on, says the current administration...and so, this 2014 Pauillac is subject to it. The price is factored in. The wine will arrive and we will pay the tariff because we cannot wait any longer.

I thought the administration just "paused" tariffs for 90 days this past week. Or was that just tariffs on Chinese manufactures?

Jal,

That was my understanding that the tariff was still in place and I've been surprised that no one is commenting on it with the wine buying moratorium lifted by the BD.Wines that have already got into the system may have been excluded(not sure) but by the sounds of it the price of European wines will be higher. I also found it odd that the tariff only includes wines under 14% ABV to be taxed the extra 25% and maybe that 14.5-15% ABV won't be so bad until the tariffs are lifted!

Danny,
Stuff that's arrived the last couple of months is showing up with a big premium over the previous shipments.
Lanessan 2016 new arrival in Florida is priced at $29 vs $16-18 in October.
It will be interesting to see if Alcohol levels go up even more in order to avoid the tariff

I'm just a country lawyer from Maine, why does alcohol level have an impact on tarrifs?

JimHow wrote:I'm just a country lawyer from Maine, why does alcohol level have an impact on tarrifs?

Good question, also why is Champagne exempt?

Jim,

I found it odd reading a few articles on wine tariffs still in place on European wines to the tune of 25% and especially on a wine board with mainly American participants and nobody is concerned or commenting. Maybe people buying these wines just have too much money and don't care but I doubt it. Maybe it has flown under the radar with the initial tariff at 100% and when they announced the govt backing off people assumed that there would be no tariff in place but 25% is still significant especially at current Bordeaux prices!!

No question I'm perplexed by the exemptions with a cutoff at 14% ABV. Why?? Intuitively you'd think a tariff/tax would be put in place not only to punish but to discourage alcohol abuse and it makes more sense to tax wines over 14% rather than to exempt them. When you look at taxing wine and wines being taxed based on their % ABV with a jump of 50% in the tax rate for wines over 14% then I find the tariff exemption odd and unexplainable. The Champagne exemption must be related to the guys wife/Milania who wrote this tariffs bill into powers love of Champagne or something crazier!! None of this makes sense and even more so the acceptance of the tariff so far has been perplexing. What happened to the Tea Party Americans are so famous for.

Imported wine above 14% was already being taxed at a significantly higher rate.

dstgolf wrote:Jim,

I found it odd reading a few articles on wine tariffs still in place on European wines to the tune of 25% and especially on a wine board with mainly American participants and nobody is concerned or commenting. Maybe people buying these wines just have too much money and don't care but I doubt it. Maybe it has flown under the radar with the initial tariff at 100% and when they announced the govt backing off people assumed that there would be no tariff in place but 25% is still significant especially at current Bordeaux prices!!

No question I'm perplexed by the exemptions with a cutoff at 14% ABV. Why?? Intuitively you'd think a tariff/tax would be put in place not only to punish but to discourage alcohol abuse and it makes more sense to tax wines over 14% rather than to exempt them. When you look at taxing wine and wines being taxed based on their % ABV with a jump of 50% in the tax rate for wines over 14% then I find the tariff exemption odd and unexplainable. The Champagne exemption must be related to the guys wife/Milania who wrote this tariffs bill into powers love of Champagne or something crazier!! None of this makes sense and even more so the acceptance of the tariff so far has been perplexing. What happened to the Tea Party Americans are so famous for.

The Champagne was allegedly allowed to continue tariff free, because Arnault, head of LVMH, not to mention a friend of the Trump’s was supposed to pressure Macron to end subsidies. Both sides, Boeing and Airbus, receive subsidies, so many were expecting that the dispute would be negotiated. So far nothing.

The question remains why they just don’t focus taxing Airbus, instead of going after French products such as wine and cheese.