Economists, liberal and progressive as well as conservative and libertarian, are warning that President Donald Trump's new tariffs will make a wide variety of goods more expensive — from fruits and vegetables to washing machines to electronics.
Another is alcohol. A wide range of alcoholic beverages are imported into the United States, ranging from beers and wines to hard liquor. Guinness, for example, comes from the Republic of Ireland, while Stella Artois is a popular Belgian beer. And numerous wines come from Italy, France and Spain.
In an article published by the Los Angeles Times on March 26, reporter Harriet Alexander details the headaches that Trump's tariffs are causing alcohol companies.
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Alexander cites alcohol importer Twins as an example, describing efforts to important alcohol to the U.S. from France.
"One hundred thousand bottles of wine and champagne were sitting in the French port of Le Havre waiting to be loaded onto a cargo ship for New York when an urgent call came in to stop the shipment," Alexander explains. "Anthony Moses and his team at Twins, the biggest importer of Bordeaux wine into the U.S., got the warning from lobbyists in Washington that Trump’s proposed 200 per cent tariff on all alcohol from France and other European Union countries could be applied to this shipment worth $5 million."
Alexander continues, "Two days later, the advice changed: the tariff deadline had moved, and the team now needed to get the bottles across the Atlantic as swiftly as possible."
The uncertainty, according to Alexander, is a big part of importers' frustration.
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"It's like playing ‘red light, green light’ in Squid Game," a source told the Times, referencing the hit Netflix series. "You proceed at your peril. It’s chaos."
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Read the Los Angeles Times' full article at this link (subscription required).