Paris (France) (AFP) – US tariffs hit French wine and spirits shipments hard last year, playing a major role in the overall drop of eight percent in value of one of France’s top exports, a trade body said Tuesday. Exports to the United States slumped by 21 percent, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said. The United States is the biggest importing country for French wines and spirits, accounting for 21 percent of the overall export market last year.
“Geopolitical tensions, commercial conflicts, exchange rate fluctuations, and a loss of confidence by households weighed on our exports,” said the Federation’s president, Gabriel Picard. French and European wines are also suffering from the increase in tariffs — first 10 percent, then 15 percent — imposed on European alcoholic drinks by US President Donald Trump in 2025. “In the United States, the imposition of customs duties and an unfavourable exchange rate have heavily impacted the overall result,” FEVS said in a statement.
Economic uncertainty weighing on consumer spending, as well as stockpiling by wholesalers, also contributed to the fall, it said. Overall, the value of French wine and spirits exports fell by 7.9 percent to 14.3 billion euros ($17.0 billion). They slid 3.3 percent by volume. Wine exports, which account for the overwhelming majority of the total, slid by 4.1 percent by value.
Meanwhile, spirits exports slumped 17.4 percent, with Chinese anti-dumping measures playing a major role. Beijing launched an investigation into EU brandy after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies, and producers agreed to hike prices to avoid anti-dumping taxes. Sales of cognac dove 23.8 percent to 2.3 billion euros. “The anti-dumping duties have severely penalised exports of cognac, armagnac and other wine-based French spirits,” the FEVS said.
The release of 2025 export data coincided with the annual Wine Paris trade show. French President Emmanuel Macron visited the show on Monday, where he insisted that ripping up unprofitable grape vines was a necessary part of revitalising the flagging wine sector. Winegrowers are dealing with over-production caused by falling demand as a result of changing drinking habits, fierce competition and export difficulties.
Efforts to help the crisis-hit industry include the government’s latest 130-million-euro “arrachage” fund that opened last Friday, offering subsidies to loss-making owners to uproot their vines. “It has to be done…so that the others (producers) retain their value,” Macron said. The wine and spirits sector supports 600,000 jobs in France and generates around 32 billion euros in revenue annually.
© 2024 AFP
