U.S. Wine Trade Alliance pushes to exempt European wine from 10% tariff

The U.S. Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA) appeared before the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s Section 301 hearing in Washington, warning that a proposed additional 10% duty on European wine would harm American wine businesses, distributors and workers. The group argued that imported and domestic wine are not competitors but parts of the same commercial ecosystem, saying that “when distributors are weak they reduce investment, hiring and the ability to sell both imported and American wine.”

USWTA coordinated testimony from importer Neal Rosenthal, California vintner Tim Mondavi and commission‑based sales representative Kevin Parks. They highlighted how a tariff on imports would contract the three‑tier distribution system, cutting sales, commissions and employment across the entire supply chain. Industry bodies WineAmerica and the Wine Institute joined the request, formally asking the USTR to exclude wine from any new tariffs.

The alliance also submitted a letter signed by historic U.S. wine‑trade figures, emphasizing that the U.S. market for imported wine was built by American entrepreneurs and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.