Many business owners claimed Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt their business. This wine industry leader wants more of them.
Jeff Bitter of statewide marketing cooperative Allied Grape Growers says the president should tackle imported wines to help domestic providers compete.
“One in every three wines consumed in the United States is imported,” he told ABC 30.
“It’s hard for us to compete on price. Our costs in California are significantly higher than in most wine-producing countries,” he added.
One of the hallmarks of Trump’s second term in office is his tariff agenda. The president has raised tariffs on goods ranging from cheese to imported automobiles.
He’s imposed a 10% tariff on European wine products that has caused some dining places to rewrite menus to adjust.
The wine industry in California has hit an economic downturn as younger generations shy away from the sophisticated drink. One wine producer told The Post in February the industry is dying because baby boomers are.
Bitter said there’s “a lot of headwinds in the wine industry right now.” He adds many growers are ripping out their vines to adjust to waning demand.
“The last two years, we’ve seen about 40,000 acres in the state pulled out each year, of wine grapes,” he said.
One of the bigger issues with wine is that it’s a luxury product, and not essential to Americans’ everyday lives.
Quality bottles are considered expensive, and the economic downturn has consumers potentially looking to cheaper alternatives.
“Wine isn’t a cheap product to buy,” he says. “Regardless of what price point you’re buying it at, it’s not cheap.” But tariffs may not be the solution to the problem.
A wine producer had a counterpoint to Bitter, telling the New York Times that placing tariffs on wine wasn’t the solution, because Americans don’t buy domestic wine.
“People aren’t switching to American wine,” he said. “You can’t replace Sancerre, Chianti and Barolo with an American equivalent.”
California produces a vast majority of American wine, but exports just 3% of its wine. Other countries like Italy, France and Spain outpace the United States in wine production.
