Douro concerned about Trump’s threatened 200% tariff on wines

Douro Association expressed their concern on Friday at the US President’s threat to apply tariffs of 200% to drinks such as wine from the European Union, considering that it could have a “brutal impact” on exports.

“I think it’s really crazy for our region because the American market is very important in terms of valuing our products, both Port and Douro wines, and the announcement of the increase in the tax burden has a brutal impact on our business”, said the president of the Association of Professional Douro Winegrowers (Prodouro), Rui Soares.

On Thursday, the President of the United States of America (USA) threatened a 200% tax on champagne and wine and other distilled drinks from the European Union (EU) to counterbalance EU taxes on American whisky.

The US market is among the “top five”, i.e., the five main export markets for wines produced in the Douro region in terms of quantity and value.

“This is a very important aspect, it’s not so much the weight of the market in terms of quantity, it’s more in terms of turnover, because the wines we export to the American market are highly valued wines with average prices far above what we sell to other markets”, added Rui Soares, who is also a producer.

In 2024, around 36 million euros worth of Port was exported to the USA, translating into an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year. Regarding Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) Douro wines, the North American market accounted for a turnover of around 5.6 million euros.

If this threat were to materialise, Rui Soares said that “it was everything that producers didn’t need at this time” when “the whole context and environment is so unfavourable” for the wine sector.

“News like this is one more nail in the coffin”, he emphasised, noting that Prodouro’s members have shown concern. Prodouro has 113 members, representing 1,200 winegrowers and 5,182 hectares of mountain viticulture.

“Trump’s entire policy at the moment is extremely unstable. If we see these taxes applied to European wines, we in the Douro region are mainly concerned with Port,” said Justina Teixeira, a producer and member of Casa do Douro, which has been restored as a public association and is based in Régua.

She said that the North American market was the target of a substantial investment by the Douro and was growing, but now “it will probably be necessary to find other economic partners” because, she said, “instability always generates mistrust in the business world”.

Justina Teixeira recalled the global crisis in wine sales, which is also affecting the Douro Demarcated Region, and said, “Europe needs to seriously rethink the agricultural and wine sectors”.

After the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which forced companies to change their strategies, the producer pointed to another sector problem: President Trump’s threat. Therefore, the producer emphasised the need to look for alternative markets.