Published on July 22, 2025
The 25% wine tariffs under the first Trump administration: who bore the burden and lessons for the future?
New York University and American Association of Wine Economists AAWE
On 22 October 2019, the first Trump administration imposed punitive tariffs on bottled still wines from France, Spain, Germany and the UK. The tariffs were imposed in response to a dispute over subsidies to Airbus, which harmed Boeing, and were suspended by the Biden administration on 22 March 2021. This article analyses the effects of the tariffs, including tax avoidance strategies and pass-through rates for wine from each affected country.
Was there a way around the new tariffs? For those who could not, who bore the burden: the producer in Europe by lowering export prices or the consumer in the US by paying higher retail prices? Do the pass-through rates differ according to the price level? What lessons can be drawn for future tariffs on still and sparkling wines?
