California wineries support EU rivals in plea to end tariffs

California winemakers are lending support to their French, Spanish and Italian counterparts in a plea to eliminate tariffs on the beverage after a trade standoff involving Airbus SE spilled over into duties on European wine.

“Wine should not be targeted with tariffs of any kind in trade disputes unrelated to the wine trade,” the Wine Institute, which represents 1,000 California vintners, and the European Committee of Wine Businesses said in a joint statement Tuesday.

In October, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on as much as $7.5 billion of European products, including wine, in retaliation for illegal government aid to Airbus. Last week Spanish vintners said they may suffer drops in U.S. revenue of as much as 50% due to the duties.

The U.S. and European Union have traditionally kept tariffs low on each other’s wine exports, boosting jobs, investment and consumer choice, the trade groups said.

“We call on the United States and the European Union to further open access to each other’s markets by immediately eliminating all tariffs on wine,” the trade groups said. “Tariffs increase costs and act as added taxes.”