For more exceptions than duty 15% agreed with the US is pushing the European Union (EU) This week, with wines and alcoholic beverages being a top priority.
The European Union (EU), with the support of LVMH’s Bernard Arnault leaders, is seeking an agreement that will restore the fields of alcohol drink and the wine at least in the situation they had before announcing the duties by the President of the USA Donald Trump on 2/4/25, according to Bloomberg.
This would mean zero duties for alcoholic beverages and a favorable state for wine for wine of 6% to 7%, according to the same sources, which would be a critical change for a European sector exporting about € 30 billion last year. The discussions also provide for EU zero duties in the alcoholic beverages of the US.
European Commission officials and industry spokesman reported that talks on alcoholic beverages are at a more advanced stage than wines. However, negotiations may fail.
The US marks that the deal is not imminent, but without completely closing the door. The United States will apply the 15% key rate on EU wines and alcoholic beverages, but the issue will be examined in an ongoing EU and US debate on agricultural products, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The duties will be in force on Friday (1.8.25).
The EU and the US have already agreed to exclude “aircraft and aircraft spare parts, some chemicals, some generic medicines or natural resources”, according to a newsletter published by the Commission on Tuesday (29.7.25). “The EU and the US have agreed to continue working to add more products to this list,” the document said. The two sides discuss preferential treatment for medical devices and more generic medicines, as Bloomberg had previously mentioned.
In terms of alcoholic beverages and wines, LVMH’s chief executive Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Arnault, was one of the most ardent supporters of a better agreement. The billionaire shareholder controlling the luxury products group, which holds Moet & Chandon Champagne as well as Hennessy Cognac, has reached the point of proposing the creation of a free trade zone between wines and alcoholic beverages.
“I am in favor, I do not know if it will be possible, to try to create a free trade zone between the EU and the US,” Arnault told LVMH shareholders at the Annual General Assembly in April, insisting that this is “vital” to the vineyards. “We are in danger of suffering thousands of wine growers,” if no agreement is reached, he warned.
This week, he reinforced his pressure, citing an article in the Les Echos newspaper that, while the EU and US trade agreement is a “good deal”, the “omission” of wine and alcoholic beverages is “harmful”, describing it as a “cultural and economic” issue.
“It exposes a flagship sector of European Winery to great uncertainty,” he wrote. “I hope that ongoing discussions will help clarify this point.”
Europe exported alcoholic beverages to the US without duties before Trump began imposing fees on products and countries earlier this year. Since then it has been facing a 10% duty, which will reach 15% according to Sunday’s agreement. The same is true of wine, which faced import duties that ranged from 3.5 cents per liter to 19.8 cents per liter, according to the CEEV industry.
According to CEEV, winemakers would consider a devastating fee of 15%. This percentage would put European producers at a disadvantage over wine producers from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, which are subject to a stable 10%, he said. Combined with the strong euro, European wineries would have had a 30%financial loss, he said.
“We really believe that wine trade is for the benefit of both EU and the US companies and must be included in the 0-0-0 duty deal,” said Marzia Varvaglione, president of CEEV, in a statement on Sunday. “After months of commercial tensions, there is moderate optimism,” the statement added.
Pernod Ricard SA and Remy Cointreau SA hold European brands of wine and distilleries, such as Martell, Remy Martin Cognac, as well as Perrier-Jouet and Telmont Champagne.