US & France agree tariff truce
The threat of increased US tariffs still hangs over other EU exports of still and sparkling wine, Scotch, Irish Cream Liqueurs and Irish whiskeys.
The agreement followed a meeting between the two leaders in light of US threats last December to increase to 100% tariffs on French goods including cheese and wine thus threatening up to $2.4 billion-worth of French product.
The US threat came in retaliation to France proposing a 3% digital tax on French incomes at major US companies such as Google, Amazon, facebook and Apple – dubbed the ‘GAFA tax’.
French wine has been subject to a US import tariff of 25% since last October. But resulting from the January 20th discussions President Macron tweeted that he’d had a “great” discussion with the US President and that the two countries would “work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation”.
It’s understood that the two leaders have agreed to hold off any further tariff increases to the end of 2020.
In the meantime negotiations at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on France’s GAFA tax will continue with a view to settling the dispute.
However the threat of increased US tariffs still hangs over other EU exports of still and sparkling wine, Scotch, Irish Cream Liqueurs and Irish whiskeys.
