US imports of French wine have plummeted since President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on a range of European delicacies in a battle over subsidies to Airbus, officials declared on Friday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne stated exports dropped 44 percent by value in November from the previous month, after the 25 percent import penalty came into effect on October 18.
He called it a "shock" for growers, adding that France has asked the European Union to provide compensation for their losses.
"We hope to have their response in the coming weeks or months," he said.
Lemoyne, who was presenting France's trade figures for 2019, did not provide overall figures for wine exports.
However, US Census Bureau data released last month showed that American imports of French wines plunged to just US57.1 million in November from US$130 million the month before, when the tariffs began to bite.
Imports fell again in December, to US$55.7 million, according to the Census data compiled by the American Association of Wine Economists.
The tariffs have been especially painful to producers at the lower ends of the market, where a 25 percent price hike can turn an affordable bottle into a once-in-a-while luxury.
Along with French wines, the tariffs target US$7.5 billion worth of Spanish olive oil, Irish and Scottish whiskies, German industrial tools, British cashmere and a wide range of European cheeses.
They were imposed after the World Trade Organization faulted the EU for failing to remove illegal subsidies for the pan-European aerospace group Airbus, whose main rival is the US giant Boeing.
Trump has threatened to hike wine tariffs even further unless their is a deal on taxing digital companies, which European nations want to impose on American giants like Amazon and Facebook.
Last month, France suspended its own digital tax after agreeing on further talks with the US to establish a global framework among members of the OECD group of free-market democracies.
— TIMES/AFP
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