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There was a 25% tariff on French wine last fall. There’s a 100% tariff just around the corner.
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Published: Jan 05, 2020
Category:
Food and Wine
Some of the leaders of what used to be called the free world were having a chat at a free world gathering.
These are buttoned-up people.
But they had an irresistible topic, and they gossiped and made jokes about the free world’s favorite buffoon, the President of the United States.
A video camera recorded it all.
A high point: Macron laughing at Trump.
If you drink French wine, you’re gonna pay for that mockery.
It’s not really that simple. And it started before Trump: The European Union allowed Airbus to sell its planes at prices around the world that are lower than the prices of Boeing planes. The WTO agreed. Now the United States — that is: Trump — can impose tariffs on these European products to the tune of $7.5 billion a year, or until the EU stops subsidizing Airbus.
Some tariffs kicked in last fall. But if you drink French wine from bottles that don’t have twist-off caps and no year on the bottle, you are due for some sticker shock. Read this Washington Post piece. The greatest hits:
With the 25 percent tariff imposed in October, wine that cost you $9 a glass is now $10 a glass at your favorite wine bar, or $15 for a bottle in a store. With a 100 percent tariff, either of those wines would be $13 by the glass and $21 for a bottle, as the tariffs reverberate through the distribution system….You may shrug if your favorite Bordeaux by the glass at your neighborhood restaurant is replaced by a malbec from Argentina, and you may say a chardonnay is a chardonnay, whether from France, Chile or California. But if your favorite $14 Chianti suddenly costs $21, and your $40 champagne is now $70, you are likely to change your buying habits.
You may be too rich to care. But if you are in the 99%, the question is this: What good, reasonably priced wine should I buy — maybe by the case — before Trump sticks it to Macron?
Let Mark Oldman guide you.
All three of Oldman’s books are sensible entertaining guides to good wines for good prices. Over the years, I’ve recommended Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine: 108 Ingenious Shortcuts to Navigate the World of Wine with Confidence and Style and Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine: Pleasure, Value, and Adventure Beyond Wine’s Usual Suspects.
This week, I’m thinking the Oldman book you need most is one I’ve also praised:How to Drink Like a Billionaire: Mastering Wine with Joie de Vivre. To see why, watch this….
“The 25% tariff could raise the retail price of French wines in the United States by up to 30%,” said Louis-Fabrice Latour, the president of the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters and head of the Burgundy wine producers’ association.
And the 100% tariff that could be coming soon?
Make friends with Mark Oldman.
