Tariffs and Retaliation: Wine Suffers
After delaying the imposition of widespread tariffs for a month, President Trump imposed them on March 4, bringing an immediate and painful response from trading partners like Canada, Mexico and China.
The next day Canada said it would immediately sever electricity to several states (MI, MN, and NY, plus parts of New England), and most provinces had previously said they would ban American wine, beer and spirits. That threat came true on March 5 when province after province announced total bans on American alcohol products, including wine—and Canada is our largest export market. Not only does that directly affect exporting wineries, but it indirectly hurts all US wineries if previously exported US wines end up flooding our stores, stealing shelf space and decreasing prices.
WineAmerica has long opposed tariffs, regardless of the Administration in power, because they ultimately hurt everyone from grape growers to wineries and consumers in a variety of ways. We are part of a coalition called “Toasts not Tariffs” which will continue to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, there’s the spectre of a possible government shutdown unless Congress and the Administration act within a week, when money runs out. At this point, it looks most likely that there will be another “continuing resolution” through September—or a full year after a budget was supposed to be adopted. This is a nonpartisan issue: Neither the Biden nor Trump Administrations have adopted a budget.