U.S. Duties: CEEV and Wine Institute agreement

The European Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) and the US Wine Institute have signed a joint document recognising the importance of the transatlantic trade in wine and calling for the immediate elimination of all wine tariffs with the "zero for zero" agreement. The massive participation by the main European and American wine stakeholders in the drafting of the document, the positive responses from the web to the many petitions on change.org and the social campaign launched in the USA by UIV, represent an important signal from the European and American production world that, in unison, calls for the protection of trade and jobs in the supply chain in view of the imminent decision that the U.S. government will have to take by 15 February regarding duties on certain European export products, including Italian wine.

 

"Export markets are a key growth opportunity for US wineries. The time has come for all governments to recognize the unique advantages of the wine trade and eliminate duties once and for all," said Wine Institute President and CEO Robert P.". Bobby "Koch in consultation with CEEV. Both the US and the EU represent each other's largest export markets, with total trade reaching €4.66 billion in 2018 ($5.53 million), creating jobs and investment on both sides of the Atlantic. For Italian wine, the United States is the main destination for sales by volume and value, with about 1.5 billion euros corresponding to over 450 million bottles and a quarter of the value of exports: a strategic market, as highlighted in the outgoing issue of Corriere Vinicolo where an unpublished analysis of the wine export exposure of Italy and France to the USA will be published with an assessment of the possible impact of duties, together with a preview of the long-awaited "US Landscapes 2020" survey by Wine Intelligence that will be made available in the coming days. Hence the joint appeal of CEEV and Wine Institute to the whole wine sector to sign the shared document and support the growth of EU-US trade relations.  An appeal in addition to the more than 24,000 declarations published on the US Government's website by American suppliers, importers, distributors, small businesses and consumers to say no to the application of additional duties on wine.  

 

But the UIV's battle to protect Italian wine from the axe of star and striped duties does not only involve the people overseas but also requires the support and commitment of the main institutions, to which Ernesto Abbona, President of Unione Italiana Vini, has made a heartfelt appeal in recent days. "While waiting for the federal government to express itself, our attention remains high on the impact that duties could have on business and jobs in Italy and the USA. This is why we are asking President Giuseppe Conte and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio, to take concrete action to encourage, also at European level in view of the imminent visit of Trade Commissioner Hogan to Washington, dialogue and confrontation with the American government as the imposition of a 100% duty would put Italian wines out of the market with disastrous consequences for companies, winemakers, territories and no measure to support the sector will ever be able to compensate for the very serious losses in market share that we could suffer".

 

Source: Press Office Unione Italiana Vini