PARIS (Reuters) -European wines may not benefit from preferential treatment in any trade agreement between the EU and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the industry’s main lobby group said on Friday.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential exclusion of wine from the list of sensitive goods included in the deal package,” said Marzia Varvaglione, president of the European wine producers group CEEV.
Products like French Bordeaux, Italian Chianti or Spanish Rioja heavily rely on the United States as their major export market, with annual shipments worth almost 5 billion euros ($5.84 billion).
Reuters reported earlier this week the bloc was on the verge of winning concessions to U.S. baseline tariffs of 10% for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and alcoholic beverages, but it was initially unclear whether wine was part of the deal.
Industry officials have repeatedly called for a “zero for zero” approach to boost the alcohol trade across the Atlantic.
Although most of Europe’s wine industry is made up of smaller and mostly unlisted business, some major publicly traded companies like LVMH and Pernod Ricard count wineries among their assets.
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(Reporting by Emma Rumney, writing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Tassilo Hummel)
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