New 25% taxes introduced by the Trump administration in the context of the Boeing-Airbus conflict will now affect a large part of the wine and spirits sector in France.
Until the end, the Trump administration decided to impose additional customs duties on French wines and on spare parts for aircraft produced in France as a retaliatory measure in the conflict that has opposed Boeing and Airbus for more than 10 years. on subsidy issues.
To close the year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on December 31 the upcoming increase in surcharges on certain European Union products.
Worsened losses in the midst of a pandemic
Among the targeted products are spare parts related to aeronautics and non-sparkling wines and French and German cognacs.
Washington is authorized to make such a decision by the World Trade Organization in the context of its dispute with the EU over aid to aeronautical giants.
Already since October 2019, the United States has imposed a 25% customs duty on still wines (which are not sparkling when the cork is opened) of less than 14 degrees sold in containers of less than two liters.
This first round of taxes, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, divided the exports of bottled wines by two, causing a shortfall of 600 million euros, according to French professionals, recalling that the United States remains the number 1 market in the world for wines and spirits.
These new taxes of 25%, which will make wines in the United States more expensive for consumers, should have an even greater impact for the entire French wine industry or for producers of Cognac or Armagnac.
According to the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters, the losses could this time amount to nearly a billion euros in 2021.
An "endless" conflict
"Today there are a lot of wines blocked in French ports, in containers shipped after the Christmas holidays to the United States, which have returned to the port because American importers do not want to pay customs clearance taxes," a already warned the Federation of Exporters.
Faced with this situation, the FEVS launched an appeal to the EU to "put a helping hand to finally resolve this conflict between Airbus and Boeing" and to "compensate the French and European companies which are the collateral damage of this interminable conflict. ".
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The Federation also asks the French government to support the industry.
Representatives of the wine industry met four ministers on January 7 to once again warn of the urgent need for support for companies exporting to the United States.
No action has yet been decided.
Appointment is made for a new meeting "for a rapid implementation of support for operators, producers and traders in the French wine and spirits sector".
Bruno Le Maire has already said he is "favorable and open to compensation and aid measures".
US suspends sanctions on Gafa tax
The addition could have been much heavier.
In this dispute between Boeing and Airbus, the Trump Administration had threatened to tax new products such as champagne, but this time on the issue of taxes on Gafa adopted in several European countries.
This file, which initially had to be settled by the WTO, was not successful.
In principle, the United States had threatened to impose these taxes in January.
But, the US administration has announced "suspend" for the moment.
The 🇺🇸 are suspending their plan to overtax our products in response to the #GAFA tax 🇫🇷.
With @BrunoLeMaire, we will continue our efforts to reach an agreement on digital taxation.
If the 🇺🇸 reconsider their decision, we will respond firmly 🇪🇺 @ francediplo @DGTresor https://t.co/QzKSyRNtXZ
- Franck Riester (@franckriester) January 7, 2021
It remains to be seen, if these conflicts will be able to be resolved with the arrival of Joe Biden at the White House?
According to analysts, this seems unlikely at least in the short term, time for the new administration to resume international negotiations.