EU officials and diplomats told Reuters that wines and spirits exported to the United States will be taxed 15% this Friday. Negotiations to obtain a lower rate will continue in parallel.
Wines and spirits of the European Union (EU) will be subject to customs duties of 15% in the United States from August 1 until an agreement is possibly concluded within the framework of negotiations which should continue in the fall, EU officials and diplomats said on Thursday with Reuters.
While American customs duties on European wines and spirits are currently 10%, the EU wishes to bring them back to zero or at least, for wine, whether the rate is set according to the principle of “the most favored nation” (NPF), that is to say on the basis of a fixed cost by liter rather than percentage.
Negotiations continue
Asked about the surcharge which could be applied to European producers of wines and spirits from August 1, unless a specific agreement, a European official close to negotiations replied: “15%”.
A high-ranking diplomat close to negotiations, for his part, told Reuters that discussions on customs duty on wine would continue after the finalization of a joint declaration of the EU and the United States on the framework agreement announced on Sunday by the President Donald Trump and the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“(This will take place) probably in the fall. My understanding of things is that they should apply the rate of 15%. It is less clear for spirits, for which I know that an old agreement should always be in force for zero customs or fixed according to the NPF,” said the diplomat.
France pushes for an exemption
“Many uncertainties hover and deserve to be clarified,” said this Wednesday the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard. More specifically, the spirits sector hopes to escape sanctions and France “pushes” for it to be exempt, underlined Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.
According to the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, the sector will be one of the main losers in customs duties at 15%: “We export for 5 billion euros, 4 billion for wine and spirits, and 1 billion for milk and grocery products. 15%, it is therefore 800 million euros that are added for local consumers” recalled the Minister on Thursday, saying that the rate of 15%will be ” And “that we will have a ‘zero’ agreement for zero ‘”, which is “necessary for the survival of certain sectors are already affected by Chinese taxes and experience crises, such as the wine sector,” she continued.