A French champagne maker warned Tuesday that a newly announced 15% U.S.-EU tariff on wine and spirits could disrupt exports and unsettle importers.
“This implementation of the 15% tariff is obviously problematic for me,” said Antoine Chevalier, owner of the Antoine Chevalier Champagne house. “It affects the final price of Champagne. It impacts my importers, who will obviously have to pay more, and that creates uncertainty about future sales. For now, we find this rate extremely high.”
Chevalier said the U.S. accounts for 25% of his business and that many orders have been paused. He called the measure “a burden” and added: “Yes, I would have liked for there to be better, or at least fairer, negotiations.”
Champagne is protected under French AOC rules, meaning it must be produced in the Champagne region. That makes producers more vulnerable to tariffs than other sectors.
Chevalier said he doesn’t believe Americans or Donald Trump “really want to deprive themselves of our French gastronomy products.” If needed, he said, he would pivot to markets in Europe, Japan or South Korea.