The European Commission did not succeed in securing an exemption for wine and spirits from the 15% tariff imposed by the US on the bloc’s exports, but negotiations are still ongoing, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič assured.
In 2024, transatlantic exports of wine and spirits totalled around €9 billion, with €4.9 billion accounted for by wine alone – making the US the largest market for EU alcoholic beverages. Both sectors have long lobbied for exclusion from the new duties introduced in the July EU-US agreement.
Presenting the joint statement, Šefčovič acknowledged that negotiators “didn’t succeed” in securing an exemption.
“I just would like to add one very important word and this is ‘yet’,” the Commissioner said, stressing that his team “will be looking at different ways how we can address this issue,” hinting that talks will continue.
“I don’t want to say it will be easy, and I don’t want to offer false promises,” he added cautiously.
France has also expressed hope that the exemption could still be negotiated.
“The agreement leaves open the possibility of additional exemptions, and we will work on this,” French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin posted on X.
Producers brace for impact
In the meantime, EU producers are preparing for significant losses.
“This is a blow to the most exposed sector among the top 10 categories of Italian products destined for the US, accounting for 24% of total global exports and worth around €2 billion per year”, the Union of Italian Wines warned in a statement.
“We are hugely disappointed,” the president of the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters Gabriel Picard told the national press, echoed by the European spirits sector through its industry group SpiritsEUROPE.
The outcome represents a “missed opportunity” to demonstrate the EU’s commitment to fair and reciprocal trade, said Hervé Dumesny, Director General of SpiritsEUROPE.
The sector is now urging negotiators to keep talks alive.
What’s in for agriculture
As announced, the joint statement states that the EU will “provide preferential market access for a wide range of US seafood and agricultural goods”.
However, senior EU officials told the press on Thursday that the bloc will not provide any preferential access for US products in “sensitive sectors” such as poultry, beef, sugar and ethanol.
“For now, the Commission failed to defend EU agri-food offensive interests,” the agricultural think tank Farm Europe stated, concluding that “if this is the starting point for future, more sensible negotiations, EU agriculture is starting many steps behind”.
Angelo Di Mambro contributed to reporting
(adm, cs)
