15% Tariffs on European Wine and Spirits Start August 1 — But Industry Continues to Fight for Exemptions
On Thursday, the long-awaited news of what tariffs would hit European wine and spirits finally arrived. Starting August 1, all EU wine and spirits imported into the United States will face a 15 percent levy, though further negotiations are expected to continue in the fall.
The news comes on the heels of Sunday’s announcement that the EU and U.S. had reached a trade deal implementing a set 15 percent tariff rate on most industries. Notably absent from the initial announcement was any mention of exemptions for wine and spirits, sparking hopes that industry groups would be able to continue their push for a more favorable outcome. For now, those hopes are slashed until the autumn when ongoing EU and U.S. negotiations on agricultural products are set to pick back up.
“The Commission remains determined to achieve and secure the maximum number of carve-outs including… wine and spirits,” European Commission spokesperson for trade Olof Gill told Reuters. “It is not our expectation that wine and spirits will be included as an exemption in the first group announced by the U.S. tomorrow. And therefore that sector will be captured by the 15% ceiling.”
American and European trade groups alike were pushing for exemptions for wine and spirits entering the U.S. ahead of Donald Trump’s August 1 deadline for tariff negotiations. (Current exemptions include aircrafts, aircraft parts, and cork.) A leading bloc including LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault reportedly pursued a deal that would return levies on wine and spirits to their pre-Liberation Day numbers. Before April 2, 2025, spirits benefited from a zero-zero tariff agreement while wine was taxed at a Most Favored Nation (MFN) rate of 19.8 cents per liter for sparkling and 6.3 cents per liter for still wines.
The U.S. and EU long benefited from a zero-zero trade agreement introduced in 1997 that included various other countries. The agreement was in place until Donald Trump’s first administration, when the U.S. implemented steel and aluminum tariffs and the EU countered with increased duties on bourbon and other U.S.-made spirits. In 2021, that tariff agreement ended.
The news of 15 percent tariffs is a blow to an industry that has long warned of the potentially decimating impacts the levies will have on the sector.
“It is extremely disappointing and utterly exasperating that the U.S. and EU have not yet come to an agreement on spirits, which is an easy win for the United States that will help boost our economic vitality during this challenging time for the hospitality industry,” remarked Distilled Spirits Council of the United States president and CEO Chris Swonger in a press release. “It is critical for our great American distilleries, farmers, and hospitality workers across the country that President Trump secure a permanent return to zero-for-zero tariffs on spirits with the European Union. We urge President Trump and the negotiators to quickly resolve this issue, which will provide much-needed certainty to 1.7 million workers who depend on a vibrant U.S. spirits industry.”
The American spirits industry is not alone in its outrage. Even before Liberation Day, industry professionals from Europe and America alike warned of the potentially disastrous impacts these levies will have on their respective sectors. For many, those fears are even more pronounced now.
“The 15% duty on EU wines, even if applied for some months until the negotiations are closed, would cause significant economic losses not only for EU wine producers but also for U.S. businesses involved throughout the supply chain,” Ignacio Sanchez Recarte, secretary general of European wine group CEEV, told Reuters. “When combined with the currency shift in the dollar/euro exchange rate, the overall financial burden on the sector could reach 30%. Investments will be halted and export volumes will decline while waiting for the final agreement.”
According to the wine group, these 15 percent levies will also put European winemakers at a competitive disadvantage with winemakers in countries like Argentina, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand that have a flat 10 percent tariff. And financial impacts are already being observed.
As noted by Shanken, the decline in EU wine imports pulled a whopping $479 million from U.S. businesses across distribution, retail, and hospitality in May 2025 alone. Moreover, U.S. wine exports are down 41 percent year-over-year. “A comprehensive zero-for-zero agreement is not just a policy win; it is an economic imperative to revitalize domestic producers and sustain the American jobs that depend on a healthy, open wine market,” Shanken News Daily executive editor Daniel Marsteller added.
On Friday, Donald Trump is expected to publish an executive order enacting the tariffs, pushing any wine and spirits industry lobbying efforts to the fall.
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