Douro wine exporters see cancelled orders even before tariffs hit
"There are several orders that have been suspended or cancelled awaiting clarification of the situation regarding the tariffs," said António Filipe, referring to AEVP member companies.
The president of the Association of Port Wine Companies (AEVP) said on Thursday that wine orders for the US market have been suspended or cancelled before announcing new 20% tariffs to the European Union.
“There are several orders that have been suspended or cancelled awaiting clarification of the situation regarding the tariffs,” said António Filipe, referring to AEVP member companies.
He specified that this situation occurred after President Donald Trump threatened to apply 200% of the duties to drinks such as wine from the European Union in mid-March.
“So that the shipments wouldn’t be caught in transit, and unexpectedly have to pay taxes on entry [into the United States] that hadn’t yet been decided. So we have several cancelled and several suspended orders waiting for clarification,” said António Filipe.
US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imports, including 25% on all foreign cars. According to the schedule announced, EU countries will pay 20% tariffs.
The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, has already said that the new tariffs announced by the President of the United States are a “heavy blow” to the world economy.
António Filipe said that the new tariffs “have a huge impact” on the wine business and that they were still trying to understand and calculate the impact on the end consumer, but estimated that it would be “greater than 20%”.
In his opinion, these new tariffs could have a short-term consequence: a drop in consumption because the product is more expensive. Still, he added that it could also have a “structural effect” of “abandoning consumers”.
“The American market is the world’s largest wine market and has the highest purchasing power. You can’t find another market to replace it,” he said.
The US market is in the “top five”, i.e. the top five export markets for wines produced in the Douro Demarcated Region, in terms of quantity and value.
In 2024, around €36 million worth of Port was exported to the USA, translating into an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year.
The North American market accounted for a turnover of around €5.6 million in terms of Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) Douro wines.
He said that, naturally, “we will endeavour to find some compensation in other markets”.
“But it’s impossible to think that in a year we’ll be operating in other markets and that we’ll be able to replace what we’ve lost in the US fully. It’s not like that. Above all, we need common sense on both sides to avoid this kind of escalation,” he emphasised.
António Filipe said that “the basis of that absurd 200% tariff was retaliation against Europe for proposing a 50% tax on American bourbon”.
“It’s also very important that Europe doesn’t participate in this escalation process and that we somehow seek the opposite path. I think the process should be more about de-escalation than accepting this as a fact and looking for other markets where they don’t exist,” he emphasised.
The European Committee of Wine Companies (CEEV) also described President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 20% tariff on EU exports to the United States as a “severe blow”, predicting layoffs and postponement of investments.
The wine industry’s employers’ association said that this “severe blow” is due to the fact that European exports to the US will account for 28% of the total value of EU wine exports in 2024, a year in which the US will continue to be the largest market for European wines, with a value of €4.88 billion.