Wine, Italian exports cease in direction of the USA: the specter of 200% duties is scary | EUROtoday

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Shipments stopped. Frozen orders. Interports warehouses filled with bottles. The American-to-date impact has already materialized within the wine sector, the place exports to the United States have actually blocked for 5 to 6 days after shining in current months. No containers departing from the Italian ports (the bottles journey solely by ship), nice fears for what may occur if the introduced Trumpian duties of 200% on European wines and liqueurs from 2 April come into pressure. For that date, the bottles despatched in the present day wouldn’t but have arrived or cleared up on the East Coast, with the consequence of paying the fee of any duties to be paid by the importer.

The cease to the import from the USA

Sandro Sartor, President and Managing Director of the Ruffino of Pontassieve (Florence), who belongs to the American group Constellation Brands and exports 50% of the turnover to the USA (60 million euros out of 120): “The first move was of the Totalwine American supermarket chain, which wrote to all European suppliers to cancel the suspended orders, explaining that they do not want to take the risk of paying the risk of paying Possible duties on the arrival of the goods. Then it was the turn of the association of American importers, Us Wine Trade Alliance, who gave education to its associates to interrupt all imports from Europe “. The horizon is grey: “We have 1 million bottles blocked in Livorno, all the orders of the month of March have canceled us,” underlines Sartor.

Ruffino’s dynamics are widespread, with shades, largely within the sector. “Yes, at this moment the indication is to avoid sending goods to the United States”, admits Renzo Cotarella, CEO of the Marquis Antinori of Florence, one of many oldest wine homes that exports nearly 15% of the turnover to the USA, 35 million euros out of 240. “At this point the only thing to do is wait for April 2, hoping to be able to resume the shipments immediately after”, provides Cotarella to clarify that Present on the American market will will let you fulfill the applying for at the least a few months.

The letters to the minister

But the priority grows now by hour. The three consortia for the safety ofProseccoamong the many largest wine exporters within the USA (nearly 150 million bottles), they wrote a joint letter to the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida; The identical have made the consortia of the Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri e Barolo; whereas the Chianti Consortium moved by itself. Everyone denounce the suspension of orders by American importers and the intense financial injury and, in perspective, employment that’s being carried out and ask for a authorities intervention. At stake there are nearly two billion euros of wine exports from Italy to the United States. Some operators, such because the Trentino Cavit cellar that exports 30% of the 250 million revenues to the US, have already ready to buffer the wound: “For now we do not see a real blockade of shipments – explains the general manager Enrico Zanoni – but in the last five to six days there has been a slowdown in orders. We have already done various scenarios, thinking about different percentages of duties ».