Nervous American drinkers have started stockpiling Italian wine like Prosecco as Donald Trump’s reelection stokes fears of steep tariffs on European imports.
The think tank Osservatorio di Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) has called for immediate action after the first post-election data on wine sales revealed a huge spike in demand from the U.S. Exports of sparkling wine, including prosecco, to the States jumped 41% in November, while bottled still wine exports jumped 17%.
The figure is unprecedented for November wine exports, the think tank said, as €54 million of wine got shipped to the U.S. in a single month. The November jump compares with a 19.5% increase for the whole year.
UIV president Lamberto Frescobaldi said the U.S. accounts for nearly a quarter of Italian wine exports, which had an estimated total value of €1.9 billion in 2024.
“The good news… is that the numbers confirm that Americans are not willing to give up our wines, especially sparkling wines; the bad news is the tariff factor (is) increasingly imminent,” said Frescobaldi.
Headlines in November were awash with reports of imminent tariffs on European wine, which appears to have prompted a wave of bulk buying.
Wine producers in Europe have good reason to be concerned. On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called “tariff” his favorite word. The 47th U.S. president is weaponizing tariffs, eyeballing neighboring Canada and Mexico with 25% fees while also threatening economic warfare on Russia and China.
Trump has also leveled tariff threats against Europe, and he has form for targeting European alcohol.
During his first term, President Trump placed a 25% import tariff on the import of wine under 14% alcohol volume from France, the U.K., Germany, and Spain, the result of a since-resolved trade dispute between Boeing and Airbus.
The prospect of tariffs has rattled nerves on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Wine Trade Alliance industry group has a page on its website entitled “Tariff Updates.”
The group champions a zero-tariff policy on wine imports. Because of a three-tier system in the U.S. between producers, wholesalers, and retailers, every $1 sent to Europe results in $4.52 in revenue for U.S. companies. That means tariffs would have an outsized impact on U.S. firms.
