French wine exporters lament US imposition of 'sledgehammer' taxes

French wine exporters lamented that they have to absorb the impact of an aircraft subsidy battle in the form of new "sledgehammer" US tariffs in addition to a first set last year that will cost them a total of over $1.23 billion,

They pointed out that the retaliatory US taxes on French wines and cognac originated from a 16-year battle over aircraft subsidies between the US and the EU, which has nothing to do with them.

European firm Airbus SE, the rival to US planemaker Boeing Co, is receiving subsidies from the UK, France, Germany, and Spain.

The US government said it would raise tariffs on certain EU products, including wines from France, on top of the additional tariffs of 25 percent on French wine imposed on October 2019, which had cost the sector $728 million over a year.

According to César Giron, president of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS), the overall impact will be over one billion euros for the entire wine and spirits sector.

He also described the impact of the new taxes on cognac sales in the US as “major.”