Wine

Tariffs, Italian Wine Union: rejection by US judges only amplifies uncertainties

Frescobaldi: 'The hope for wine entrepreneurs is to be able to reduce, as far as possible, the indeterminacy through the ratification of the Turnberry Agreement (the trade agreement signed in Scotland last August), knowing full well that we will not be celebrating for this anyway'

by Giorgio dell'Orefice

8 May 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Uiv: taking the Turnberry deal forward
Less exports but damage also in the US
Less wine in restaurants and loss of turnover

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

It is not a brightening but a further complication. The recent rejection by the US Federal Trade Court that ruled Trump's new tariffs that had replaced reciprocal tariffs illegal does not make the picture any easier for Italian wine producers who have their main market in the US. They are convinced of this at the Italian Wine Union;

UIV: push ahead with Turnberry agreement

"On the subject of American tariffs," commented the president, Lamberto Frescobaldi, the recent threats and rejections amplify the uncertainty: for companies it is damage added to damage. The hope for wine entrepreneurs is to be able to reduce, as far as possible, the uncertainty through the ratification of the Turnberry Agreement (the trade agreement signed in Scotland last August), knowing full well that we will not be celebrating for this".

Fewer exports but damage also in the US

According to the Italian Wine Union, moreover, the tariffs have curbed Italia's exports to the USA (wine lost about 9.2% in value last year) but they have also damaged the American supply chain and trade network, as noted in recent days by the United States Wine Trade Alliance (Uswta) in an official comment to the public debate on the measures to be adopted for the new duties. According to the Uswta importers, distributors, producers, restaurateurs and wine merchants, in fact, the tariffs have brought the sector's domestic economy to its knees with 'real, widespread and sustained damage to American companies throughout the wine supply chain, with a drop in sales of between 5% and 15% or even more'.

Less wine in restaurants and loss of turnover

Overall, tariffs have reduced the supply of wine in the United States. According to Datassential figures reported by Uiv, in US restaurants (where European wines generate gross margins of 60%) menus are offering 37% fewer white wine labels and 26% fewer red wine labels.

According to the UIV Observatory, the drop in Italian wine exports to the USA last year produced a loss in turnover of around 178 million euro. A figure arrived at due to the -23% slowdown recorded in the second half of 2025, the year in which Trump's tariffs were fully operative.

The first quarter of this year," they add at the UIV, "closed with a tendential gap of around -20% (-105 million euro): this is the worst start to the year since 2022, even if - it should be remembered - the comparison is with the early part of last year when wine purchases from Europe and Italia were accelerated in the United States precisely in anticipation of the tariffs that would then be triggered in August. In any case, according to the UIV Observatory, after nine months in the 'red' (the second half of 2025 plus the first quarter of 2026) already in April sales values are expected to rise slightly.