The Biden administration has no immediate plans to end tariffs on European wine and other foods and beverages, to the dismay of importers and purchasers of those products.
Almost all wines from France and Germany are now under a 25% U.S. tariff, and some food items like cheese and olives have been hit with tariffs also. The European Union, for its part, has tariffs on American whiskey, nuts, tobacco and other items.
These tariffs are the latest manifestation of a long-standing dispute between the U.S. and France over how each nation subsidizes its respective aircraft industry. That battle has been fought for 17 years, but the Trump administration took it to new heights, triggering the tit-for-tat round of tariffs.
Wine importers, and restaurateurs for whom wine is a major profit center, have been begging the new president to remove the tariffs. But the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said only that it will “continue to consider the action taken in the investigation.”
“These food and wine tariffs are impacting one of the most vulnerable sections of the economy at the worst point in generations,” the head of a wine importers trade group told the Wall Street Journal.
