Tariffs cut U.S. wine imports by a quarter in value
First-half 2026 imports fell 16.8 percent in volume and 25.2 percent in value, OIVE customs analysis shows, as the 15 percent EU tariff bit into bottled wine.
NEW YORK: U.S. wine imports fell 16.8 percent in volume and 25.2 percent in value in the first half of 2026, according to analysis of customs data by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation, OIVE, published by The Drinks Business.
The six-month figures: 536.8 million litres imported, worth 2.43 billion euros, a spending decline of 816.4 million euros against the first half of 2025. The average import price per litre fell 10.1 percent to 4.52 euros.
The cause, in OIVE's reading, is the 15 percent tariff on European Union products that took effect last August and remained in place for the full half year, layered on top of a general drift away from wine among U.S. consumers.
France and Italy still dominated by value, together accounting for more than 70 percent of U.S. wine import value, but both fell hard: French shipments dropped 25 percent to 955.8 million euros, Italy fell by a similar proportion to 791 million euros. New Zealand was third at 208.1 million euros, down 14 percent; Spain fourth at 133.7 million euros, down 20.9 percent. In absolute volume terms, Australia showed the biggest reduction, shipping 25.9 million litres less than a year earlier.
Bottled wine bore the brunt. The category, 70 percent of imports, fell 12.4 percent in volume and 26.6 percent in value to 318 million litres worth 1.69 billion euros, with the average bottled price down 16.2 percent to 5.32 euros a litre. Bulk imports fell 36.4 percent in value to 85.9 million euros. The only growth segment was bag-in-box, up 49 percent in volume but still tiny at 16.3 million euros.
For the domestic trade, the import collapse cuts two ways. U.S. producers face less price competition on shelves, but importers, distributors, and retailers built on European portfolios are absorbing a demand shock, and the tariff is ultimately paid somewhere in the chain, most of it by American buyers.
The second-half data will show whether the first-half drop was front-loaded panic or the new baseline. Either way, the 2026 import book is now the weakest in recent memory, and the trade's sourcing math has changed for as long as the tariff stands.
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