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Time called on happy hour as French wine and spirit sales sour in mainland China, US

French alcohol exports to mainland China and the US dropped by 19.5 and 21 per cent in 2025 as tariffs stifled global trade

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US tariffs hit French wine and spirits shipments hard last year, playing a major role in the overall drop of 8 per cent in value of one of France’s top exports, according to a trade body. Meanwhile, exports to the US slumped by 21 percent. Photo: AFP
Xiaofei Xuin Paris
French wine and spirits exporters saw their worst results since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, as companies were buffeted by stormy trade relations between China and the US, two of the industry’s biggest overseas markets.

“It’s weighing on everyone’s morale,” said Gabriel Picard, president of the French Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters (FEVS), during a press conference in Paris on Tuesday where he presented the annual figures.

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France exported a total of €14.3 billion (117.5 billion yuan) of wine and spirits last year, down by 7.9 per cent. More specifically, wine exports were down 4.1 per cent to €10.5 billion and spirit exports were down 17.4 per cent to €3.7 billion – with cognac exports plunging 23.8 per cent – according to FEVS data.

The total export value declined for the third consecutive year and marked the lowest point since 2020, Picard said, adding that a rebound this year might be difficult given the context.

The 15 per cent tariffs US President Donald Trump imposed on French wine and spirits – along with similar duties levied by Beijing in response to EU tariffs on imports of China’s electric vehicles – were the main factors that dragged down the total exports, according to Picard.

While the United States remained the biggest export market for French wine and spirits at €3 billion, Trump’s tariffs, together with a strong euro, reduced exports by 21.2 per cent in 2025.

The second half of 2025, when it became clear that alcoholic drinks would not be exempt from tariffs in the US-EU trade deal, saw French wine and spirit exports to the US collapse by 40 per cent in value and 20 per cent in volume, according to Picard.

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US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200 per cent on French wine since returning to office in January.

China as a whole was the third-biggest market for French wine and spirit exporters in 2025 at €1.1 billion, down by 12.8 per cent. Mainland China saw an even bigger drop of 19.5 per cent, a fall FEVS attributed to pressure from a domestic economic slowdown, a crackdown on drinking during official activities, anti-dumping tariffs and minimum prices imposed on French cognac.
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