The wine industry is freaking out about Trump's latest fight for a 100 percent tax on all European wines
Add the wine industry to the farms hurting under President Donald Trump's trade war.
According to Wine Spectator, those in the wine industry came to capitol hill trying to fight off the 100 percent increase in taxes on all wines from the European Union. Cheese, cosmetics and other products would also fall under the 100 percent tax, as Axios pointed out.
The move was part of Trump's retaliation for European countries subsidizing Airbus, the report claimed.
"But if they go into effect, the brunt of the pain will be borne not by European companies but by Americans," Axios reported.
Americans faced the same showdown with vegetables coming from Mexico and electronics coming from China. In those cases, Trump promised to increase taxes for incoming products, but backed down at the last minute.
"European winemakers can sell their product anywhere in the world," Axios explained. But in the United States, wine importers, distributors and retailers can only get European wine from Europe.
Natural wine importer Zev Rovine told Axios that the 100 percent tariff would cover 80 percent to his sales.
"I work with small producers of natural wine that are very popular in Copenhagen and Tokyo," he explained. He explained that those producers would simply sell their products somewhere else. It could ultimately put him out of business.
There is a concern that wines will increase in price, but worse, there's a risk that they could just disappear entirely.
"We are fighting not just to be able to drink European wine; we are fighting for our livelihoods and for our hundreds of thousands of employees," wine importer Jenny Lefcourt wrote in an editorial for the New York Times.
Trump owns a Virginia winery that is currently being run by his son Eric Trump. When reviewed it was described as "Welches grape jelly with alcohol." Another reviewer called one of Trump's wines, "Pungent. Like cheap perfume."
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