<p></p><div class="wysiwyg-text-align-center"><img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1577982094206-Vinous+Logo_test.png"><br></div><br><p></p><p>January 2, 2020</p>

The President<br>
The White House<br>
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.<br>
Washington, DC 20500<p>Dear Mr. President:</p>

<p>I am writing to
express my strong opposition to the second round of tariffs on French and EU
goods that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is
considering in connection with France's Digital Services Tax and the WTO’s
recent ruling on the Airbus/Boeing dispute.</p>

<p>As the Founder, CEO
and Lead Critic at Vinous, one of the world’s most highly respected wine
publications, I engage every day with hardworking Americans whose livelihoods
are now seriously at risk by potential USTR actions. If enacted, these tariffs
will result in catastrophic and permanent financial harm to the thousands of
working-class families in our country that depend on the economic viability of
EU goods.</p>

<p>The US wine industry employs&nbsp;1.74 million people[1]&nbsp;and generates $68.1B in
sales[2] through both retail and
hospitality channels. Approximately a third of these sales are from&nbsp;imports[3], 75% for wines produced in
EU countries[4]. Those wines are sold by every mom-and-pop corner
liquor store struggling to pay the rent, every salesperson trying to meet her
sales target, every young person waiting tables to put themselves through
school, every truck driver working around the clock to deliver packages to
consumers and businesses, and many thousands of other middle-class Americans
around the country who work in the wine industry. The proposed tariffs, which
range from 25-100%, will have a devastating effect on these people and their
families.</p>

<p>Wines are not easily
interchangeable products. Consumption of EU wines will not shift to US wines in
a trade war. Moreover, the highest value EU wines are not like smartphones or
widgets, where manufacturing can easily be increased or decreased according to
demand, but are instead inherently limited in production. The companies that
make those wines will simply find other markets for their products. Once those
wines are sucked out of the US economic sphere, they will never come back.</p>

In addition, these
tariffs pose a significant and very real threat to the long-term viability of
wineries in the United States. In 2018, the EU was the largest
export market for California wines[5]. The EU&nbsp;could very well
choose to retaliate by levying tariffs on US wines, which would be devastating
to American wineries precisely at a time they need growth from those markets to
survive and are broadly beginning to establish themselves as qualitative peers
to the very best European wines. Moreover, lower-priced wines from EU countries are often
the first wines American consumers try before moving into higher-end segments
of the market where the US has traditionally been so strong. If those affordable
wines are no longer available,&nbsp;younger consumers
will shift to other beverages such as beer and spirits, dealing another
crushing blow to our US wine industry.<p>A new round of
tariffs will ultimately create a domino effect where the entirety of the US
wine industry shrinks (both distribution and production), leading to a decrease
of sales tax revenues, lower corporate tax revenues, layoffs and loss of
personal tax revenue.</p>

<p>As a
citizen, I am deeply appreciative for everything you do to protect our country’s
economic interests. I respectfully believe there are more direct and targeted
measures that can efficiently address our current trade disputes. I urge you
not to put the livelihood of so many American families at risk with these
proposed tariffs.</p>

<p>Sincerely yours,</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1577978082691-AG+Signature_test.png"><br></p>

<p>
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 

 
</p>

<p>Antonio M. Galloni</p><p>CEO &amp; Founder</p><div><br class="wysiwyg-clear-both">

<hr>



<div>

<p>[1] Study for
WineAmerica, the National Association of American Wineries, conducted by John
Dunham &amp; Associates of New York, September 2017</p>

</div>

<div>

<p>[2] Total retail value
of wine sales in the U.S. 2000-2018, Jan Conway, Statista, August 2019</p>

</div>

<div>

<p>[3] Anatomy of the Rising Import Threat to U.S.
Wine, Mike Veseth, The Wine Economist, April 2019</p>

</div>

<div>

<p>[4] Top Wine Importing
Countries, Daniel Workman, World’s Top Exports, April 2019</p>

</div>

<div>

<p>[5] U.S. Wine Exports
Total $1.46 Billion in 2018, Wine Institute, April 2019</p>

</div>

</div>

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