So much thunder that it rained. Contrary to recent polls, Donald Trump was elected by the American people, 47th President of the United States.
While the result initially sparked great excitement on Wall Street, with U.S. stocks posting extraordinary gains, in Europe there was immediate debate, accompanied by fears, about the import duties that the U.S. government might apply starting in 2025, especially on food and beverages from Europe. Yes, you read that right, even our beloved wine could be affected.
The issue is complex and difficult to read, especially considering the unpredictability of the new president, a comeback after the glories of 2016-2020. If then, starting in 2018, mainly French and British products (and, to our amazement, Spanish products as well) had been hit on several occasions due to the Airbus issue, Italy and our wine were spared, with the latest decision taken between January and February 2020. Indeed, the U.S. government decided to exempt Italian wine from the additional 25 percent duties, which had, however, affected other products from the Bel Paese, such as Parmesan cheese and spirits in general. The uncertainty led to excessive shipping and exporting of our wines, with the result that many importers had inventories at peak levels. Ironically, we all remember what happened in March 2020: with the Pandemic and subsequent restrictions on going out , the consumption of off premise wine and spirits peaked in the following months, leading to increased shipping demand.
What can happen now? The pandemic and subsequent supply chain crisis have brought further imbalance, and new trends in consumption have played their part. Possible tariffs could exacerbate the situation, because if it costs 25 percent more to import wine, the cost will obviously fall on the end consumer.
We are left to think positive. Usually, after the rain comes the good weather: it is expected that, before May/June 2025, due to political and technical issues (inauguration of the President and the new Congress), the tariffs might not be implemented, giving time to the market and the actors involved to outline a strategy. We hope they will therefore discuss it over a glass of Italian wine.
The article Wino for President comes from TheNewyorker.
