The US President has imposed high tariffs on EU products. German quality wines are particularly affected, as an FDP request in the Bundestag showed. German winegrowing sounds the alarm – and demands subsidies.
The US punitive tariffs on agricultural products from the European Union are showing the first effects in Germany: German quality wines of the Riesling variety from the cultivation areas on the Moselle and Rheinhessen are particularly affected by the tariffs.
This emerges from the Federal Government’s replies to a small request from the FDP in the Bundestag, which t-online.de has exclusively. Import fees continue to put pressure on the already weak export sector. The parliamentary group therefore accuses the Federal Government of failing to trade dispute with the US government – the German Winegrowers’ Association is demanding state subsidies.
“The USA is our most important sales market abroad,” says association general secretary Christian Schwörer t-online.de. “We are already registering a significant decline in exports to America. Numerous producers who have specialized in the export business fear the existence of customs duties.”
“We have nothing to do with it”
In the fall, the United States imposed billions in punitive tariffs on imports from Europe for illegal EU subsidies for the aircraft manufacturer Airbus. A charge of 25 percent is required for products such as cheese, wine, butter, olive oil and coffee. According to the latest information from the Federal Government, Germany primarily affects liqueurs, wine, confectionery, dairy products – especially cheese – as well as sausages and pork.
It is not yet possible to express in numbers how much wine exports have recently declined. Nevertheless, swearers and many winegrowers are annoyed that they are drawn into the trade war. “We have nothing to do with it,” he says. “And yet we are the victims. That is not okay.”
Wine prices are high in the United States anyway
According to the Winegrowers’ Association, a total of around 17 million liters of wine were exported from Germany to the USA last year. The value of the goods amounted to almost 69 million euros. 80 percent of the wine exported to the USA in 2019 was Riesling, which many Americans particularly like: Around 7.8 million liters of Riesling came to America from the Moselle, 4.8 million liters from Rheinhessen, and 1.1 million liters from the Palatinate.
“The United States is a difficult market for us anyway,” explains Schwörer. The background to this is the high markups that importers and middlemen are taking. “That means that our wine in the United States is very expensive even without the customs duties. With them, German wine becomes unaffordable for many Americans. Many US importers are therefore already deleting German wines from their shopping lists and replacing them with cheaper alternatives.”
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The problem, according to Schwörer: it is difficult to be listed again. “The tariffs can therefore cause lasting damage to German wine exports. The long-term consequences can hardly be estimated. Many companies could face the closure.”
Winegrowers demand financial support from the state
Schwörer is therefore demanding government subsidies from the federal government. “Export-oriented winegrowers need direct financial support from the state. In addition, the federal government in Brussels must do more to ensure that tariffs drop.”
FDP member of the Bundestag Carina Konrad also joins the latter. “The federal government is allowed to winegrower do not leave it out in the rain. She is simply standing by as an important export market breaks down, “she says.” Instead of just focusing on free trade agreements with Australia and South America, she should do everything possible to put trade in goods with the United States on a future-proof footing. “
Incidentally, it is unlikely that the price of Riesling in Germany will fall due to the lower Riesling exports. Wine growers tend to receive less money from German wholesalers because the supply on the domestic market is increasing. According to the winegrowers’ association, however, the retailers rarely pass on this lower price to the end consumer.
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