In Champagne, winegrowers are concerned about their fate, they who export massively to the United States, where 15% customs duties have been taxed since Thursday. But they hope for a favorable outcome.
“It’s going to hurt” : Like many other French winegrowers in Champagne, Christine Sévillano is directly concerned by the raising of American customs duties Thursday, while hoping for a favorable outcome to the negotiations between Brussels and Washington. The United States represents «presque 10%» From its turnover, explains to AFP Ms. Sévillano in a cellar in her area of eight hectares of organic certified vineyards in Vincelles, a small village in the Marne valley (northeast) where the miller, one of the main champagne grape varieties, dominates.
15% taxes imposed by the United States on European products, including wines and spirits, “It will hurt, because I feel that on some of my importers, the situation is difficult”underlines Ms. Sevillano. Its American importers “Are in a kind of wait -and -see (…), they clearly hope that the Trump administration will change course”adds the one who is also president of the Federation of independent winegrowers of Champagne. The impact is “Already there” Because for several months, “We feel that there is a significant slowdown and reluctance (…), it’s very clear that orders [venant des États-Unis] become scarce “with other aggravating factors such as inflation, which weighs on American consumption, and on the drop in the dollar to the euro, is still Ms. Sevillano.
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“Not the end of the world”
The United States is the first export market for champagne, both in volume (around 10%) and in value (820 million euros, more than 14% of sales in the sector), according to 2024 figures from the Champagne Committee, the interprofessional organization of the sector. “Today, the impact of these customs duties of course sounds on our operations, on our areas, on our businesses”in Champagne but also in the United States, where their economic impact “Has not been well studied”estimates Maxime Toubart, co -president of the Champagne committee, interviewed Thursday by AFP. “The whole chain will suffer”Champagne houses, strongly exporting, to the small winegrowers who provide them with grapes, passing through the intermediaries and to the American final consumer, he predicts.
But there “good news”it is that negotiations continue between the European Union and the Trump administration, adds Toubart. The Federation of Wine and Spirits (FEVS) also reminded AFP on Thursday that it still hoped for an exemption from American customs duties for its sector: “It remains an objective to be achieved and it is exactly the message we carry with French and European public authorities, which have received it”. For Philippe Cothenet, assistant secretary general of the CGT Champagne, the great producers of the most famous French sparkling wine are not the most to be complained: «15% [de taxes américaines]it can be absorbed ”provided that the impact is distributed “On all floors of the rocket”he thinks. “It is not the end of the world”.
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Sales of the Champagne sector fell in 2024, but it was a certain standardization, because the sector had known record sales in 2022 and 2023, exceeding 6 billion euros, thanks in particular to high increases in a post-Cavid context, recalls Mr. Cothenet. Champagne remains “A powerful marker and a strong symbol of gastronomy, the art of living, but also of celebration. And that are markers that persist ”also suits Mr. Toubart. “Our ambition is to continue to be very present” on the American market, “Extremely important for us, But there are also new markets to open ”adds the co-president of the Champagne committee, citing Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. Despite the difficulties that accumulate, “I want to stay optimistic”also confides Ms. Sevillano. After all, “We sell an optimism product, a wine of optimism”.
