The Institute of Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts of Madeira has admitted its concerns about the new tariffs announced by the US. However, they remain optimistic as other markets are expected to fill the gap.
In a statement, the President of the Institute, Tiago Freitas said:
“This is all very new. What we know is that when products become more expensive there is a retraction, this is evident. Let’s hope that this retraction is small and that there may be an opportunity here for other countries to come forward and strengthen their presence within the Madeira Wine sector. At the moment both Brazil and Asia are looking good and it is now a matter of strategically advertising within these markets.”
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the official expressed concern about the measure and said that prices will rise, and the increase “is either absorbed and shared between the Madeira Wine producer and the importer or is catapulted directly to the final consumer.”
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday new tariffs of 20% on products imported from the European Union, in addition to 25% tariffs on the automotive, steel and aluminum sectors.
Even so, Tiago Freitas said he hoped that possible losses in Madeira wine exports would not be so serious, since the North American market – the most important export market in extra-EU terms – has a high purchasing power.
Tiago Freitas also stressed that Madeira Wine has “a lot of history, especially in the American market, it is a wine that comes from a very small region,” which has “about 400 hectares of wine, in which the grapes are extracted from an aggressive wine-growing landscape, that is very difficult to farm.”
Concluding he said that he believed that the Portuguese government should start negotiations with the US without enforcing retaliatory import taxes.
Trump’s new tariffs are an attempt to grow U.S. industry while punishing countries for what he has said were years of unfair trade practices. The new tariffs were imposed by the United States on all imports, with surcharges for countries deemed particularly hostile to trade.
Last year, Madeira Wine exports to the USA corresponded to 2.6 million euros, out of a total of 20 million euros from the total traded.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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