Whether it is red or white, popping the cork on either variety of wine might soon get more expensive if it’s not made in the U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on foreign imports will likely impact spirits, and that is giving some sommeliers some serious heartburn.
Patrick Comiskey covers the wine industry and wrote about the possible tax on vino. He joined host Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today.”
What You Need To Know
Wine might soon get more expensive if it’s not made in the U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on foreign imports will likely impact spirits
After Donald Trump was reelected, a group of winemakers and restaurateurs with the U.S. Wine Trade Association met via Zoom to talk about the potential for a price hike on spirits
The spirits industry has been in a slump since the pandemic
Wine has been particularly hard hit as younger generations drink less alcohol or buy hard seltzers and other drinks
After Donald Trump was reelected, a group of winemakers and restaurateurs with the U.S. Wine Trade Association met via Zoom to talk about the potential for a price hike on spirits.
“They didn’t expect 500 people to turn out at this meeting to learn as much as they could about what they can do to fend off tariffs for the wine industry and spirits industry,” Comiske said. “Imported goods will include wine and spirits and beer and what have you from Europe, from Australia, from South America and South Africa. And these will amount to 20% tariffs on the import fees of these products. And they are doing what they can to keep that from happening or fend it off as long as possible.”
Comiskey explained that the tariffs will not actually affect the countries producing the wines.
“The tariff actually takes place at the port of entry. It doesn’t affect the countries in Europe or elsewhere who are being taxed. All of those taxes end up in the cost of the product itself,” he said.
The spirits industry has been in a slump since the pandemic, Comiskey said. Wine has been particularly hard hit as younger generations drink less alcohol or buy hard seltzers and other drinks. As Comiskey noted, foreign wines have no perfect substitutes made in America.
“I love French wine, I love French Cabernet, I love French Syrah, but having a California Cabernet or a California Syrah as a replacement for what is inimitably French, coming from a particular place in France or Italy or what have you, they’re just not the same in any way,” he said. “For anyone who loves wine loves the diversity of wine, having just one option when you could have five is really not an option at all, is it?”
Comiskey looked ahead at what the wine industry may do if these tariffs come to pass.
“Every politician, every government representative, congressmen, senator has a hometown, and the towns are filled with restaurants that are vital to their communities,” he said. “So this is going to affect the health of the restaurant industry in their home towns. The second thing that we know, that the Trade Alliance wants to impress upon both politicians and on the Trump administration, is the fact that the U.S. now has a three tier system in order to protect the business of selling alcohol and to keep it out of the hands of minors and criminals and what have you. And what that means is that for every dollar that is spent on an imported wine or spirits, three, four, or five dollars is spent in the United States and taxed in the United States. So it is not a terribly good product to impose a tariff on because you are not really making much impact.”
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