The price of European wines may never be the same

After a long hard day of work, it isn’t uncommon for people over the age of 21 to enjoy a nice glass of wine. Although there is a wide variety of wines based around the kind of grapes used and price, Americans still manage to find a wine that fits them.

Wine being consumed by Americans will see an increase in price due to tariffs being imposed by President Donald J Trump.

The United States has imposed a 25% tax on European wines which was put into effect after winning approval from the World Trade Organization to retaliate in the dispute over subsidies to planemaker Airbus.

The United States imports $2.07 billion in wine from Italy, 17% more than in 2014. The United States is drinking more wine than ever before, though beer sales are still higher wine is coming in at a close second. Those who now enjoy drinking wine over beer will either have to find a new spirit or come to terms with the doubling prices. Some bottles would even become too expensive to import.

Many people still don't understand why the dispute over an aircraft is resulting in taxing wine; the two are separate entities. Many speculate that the President may be using this taxation to his own advantage as it was discovered he owns a vineyard in Virginia. The President claimed that people could substitute their foreign wines with homegrown bottles.

These tariffs will leave 34% of drinkers who prefer wine very unhappy.

But what about American farmers in the United States?

What the President doesn’t realize is the tariffs are also affecting American business life.

California winegrowers spoke out about the tariffs claiming how they feel it will only cause retaliation and be unsuccessful when persuading the public to buy Californian wine. Consumers also have other options when it comes to wine.

Taxes have not been imposed on wine coming from South America or New Zealand which could take revenue away from American made wine.

Thousands of people have opposed the move in written comments to the US Trade Representative, which handles the decision and was accepting submissions until January 13.

Many importers try to bring it to the Presidents attention that these tariffs will have a huge impact on small businesses, American workers, and consumers.

The wine industry and businessmen all over Europe and the United States have their fingers crossed the tariffs won’t be passed. The faith of the wine industry is uncertain.