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Tariffs & Imported Bulk Wine
When the Supreme Court recently rejected President Trump’s tariffs, the media immediately highlighted the New York City wine importer who took the case to court. While it is true that tariffs made it more costly for importers to bring in bottled Bordeaux, it is also true that the tariffs had no meaningful impact on the 45 million gallons of bulk wine that were imported into the U.S. in 2025.
That inexpensive bulk wine is often blended with domestic wine, and the consumer is never told the origin of what is actually in the bottle.
Tariffs also fail to meaningfully affect the bulk wine market for two key reasons. First, the price gap between imported bulk wine from many countries and domestic production is so large that even modest tariffs do little to close it. Second, the federal duty drawback system allows companies to reclaim tariffs and excise taxes, as long as they export a “like” product, effectively neutralizing the intended impact of those duties. This flawed program essentially made tariffs moot as companies can simply recover those costs through duty drawback.
The combination of bulk imports and refunds through duty drawback has driven down grape prices, left fruit unsold, forced growers to pull out vineyards, and pushed generational farming families out of business.
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