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Spanish Winemakers Warn Tariffs May Cut U.S. Sales in Half

Spanish Winemakers Warn Tariffs May Cut U.S. Sales in Half

(Bloomberg) -- Spanish winemakers may suffer drops in U.S. revenue of as much as 50% due to the tariffs that country started imposing in October, a trade group said.

About 90% of vintners surveyed by the Spanish Wine Federation said the tariffs will affect them seriously, given that the U.S. is the biggest export market for one in four of the country’s winemakers.

The report showed the extent of the damage from the tariffs, which President Donald Trump imposed on as much as $7.5 billion of European exports in retaliation for illegal government aid to Airbus SE. The U.S. imports 26% of the wine Spain sells outside the European Union.

Spanish winemakers estimate U.S. revenue may drop as much as 35% to 50% if the tariffs last through April, the trade group said. Most winemakers in Spain have raised prices by 15% to 25% to offset the blow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier

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