(18 Oct 2019) French vintners are begging for government aid and American shoppers are about to face supermarket sticker shock after the US slapped a new round of tarrifs on European products. 7.5 billion US dollars in US tariffs on European food, wine and other goods took effect on Friday, in response to illegal European Union subsidies to planemaker Airbus.
However the sun illuminating Burgundy's autumn foliage as the tariffs kicked in wasn't enough to lift glum spirits among vintners like Louis Moreau, a sixth-generation wine producer who described the US as a "key market" over the past two decades.
"Where is the logic? It's not fair," Moreau, who lived in the United States for 10 years, told The Associated Press.
He said he and other Chablis producers feel they're being held hostage to an unrelated political dispute.
The US is the number one market for French wine exports and Moreau estimates the tariffs could cost him 80,000 euros (90,000 US dollars) in revenue over the next six months, a 20% loss of his US business.
French wine exporters group FEVS asked for government help to compensate for an expected drop in sales as American consumers shun French varieties for cheaper wines from the US or elsewhere.
Following Trump's decision, the EU's Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom threatened on Friday to impose retaliatory tariffs on US products.
But she laid out her hope that negotiations would prevent a trade war escalation that would have global fallout.
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