The message from Vinitaly 2025: US tariffs are worrying, but “no panic”, wine will pull through

At the opening of Vinitaly 2025, the Italian Government, represented by the Ministers of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida (who WineNews talked to), Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso (whom we interviewed), Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, and Culture, Alessandro Giuli, launched their messages to the wine world. They said, “no panic about US tariffs”, which is a topic to be addressed “in a dialogue at the European Union level, where Italy will act as a bridge, and not instead a wall against a wall of counter-tariffs”, enhancing and protecting the “Italian wine civilization”, in the sector that is a gem of the agri-food industry. The sector makes Italy “a superpower of quality”, and a Country “more capable than others of growing and seizing the opportunities that arise in times of crisis”. It would not be the same without wine, because it would lack the best “poetry, art, sculpture, and love, as wine comes from the same lexical root as Venus”. The Ministers launched the messages to an audience of producers at the opening of Vinitaly 2025 in Verona (being held from April 6-9), to reassure them, because the US tariffs are, in any case, alarming. The effects on Italian wine’s number one foreign market are very worrisome, as many Italian producers told WineNews, and their supply chain representatives (Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari, Assoenologi, CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, Confagricoltura, Copagri, Federdoc, Federvini and Unione Italiana Vini-UIV), reiterated “their deep concern about the impact that introducing US tariffs on European products will have. They launched an urgent appeal to Italian and European institutions to work on supporting a multilateral dialogue with US authorities, to at least be able to suspend the application of tariffs as soon as possible”. Many companies actually seem more concerned about the politics of the problem, which is not to be underestimated, but the message is “we must not give in to panic, because the US is definitely an important market, as it is worth 10% of agri-food exports, but it is not the only one”. This is a valuable message, in general, but less so regarding wine, since the USA is wine’s number one foreign market in value, at 1.9 billion euros in 2024, out of 8.1 billion euros total, equalling practically a quarter of the value. However, diversifying markets is and always has been fundamental. The wine promotion system has been investing in it for quite some time. “Our vision is to give companies more and more value, so we are continuing to boost the system of relationships by bringing, around Vinitaly, all the issues involved in various capacities to promote Italian wine. Even though this is a moment of great uncertainty, we are cooperating with the institutions to strengthen our presence in the United States. In the next few weeks, as a matter of fact, we will take part in an event hosted by our Embassy in Washington, involving members of the Italian-American Committee and the National Italian American Foundation of the US Congress, to enhance the excellence and uniqueness of our products, which we want to continue to export to the US market. This is an important step towards the second edition of Vinitaly.USA in Chicago, scheduled to be held October 5- 6, 2025”, Federico Bricolo, president of VeronaFiere, said. “We are in a situation of uncertainty. The announcement of the tariffs had already provoked a surge in sales. Then, importers gave instructions to block orders. The threat of tariffs is alarming, and this is the reason why we must better inform entrepreneurs as well as face the scenario rationally. There are already open commercial tools that will help give an initial response and compensate for the damage the tariffs cause. We cannot neglect the United States because it is a strategic market. It is important to be present on the US market. We have built Vinitaly Chicago to become the largest wine Fair in America, where we can meet buyers who cannot come to Verona”, Matteo Zoppas, president of ICE, said. In the meantime, Antonella Sberna, vice-president of the European Parliament has also promised support for the sector, declaring, “the wine sector deserves all our attention and needs to be protected. Not only does production need to be protected, but also, and now more than ever, trade. The European Parliament and expert organizations will work together to advance the interests of the sector and Italy, starting with the Wine Package, which the European Commission has recently approved”.
“Wine is important, but as Luigi Veronelli said”, Luca Ciriani, Minister for Relations with Parliament, added, “the civilization of wine is much more important. It is, in fact, too important for anyone to joke about or criminalize. We believe profoundly in this civilization made of the territory, culture and work. We are proud of our wines and we won’t let anyone say any different”. Wine is a strong and important sector, which “is worth 45 billion euros of Italy’s total economy”, Bricolo said. Italy has experienced record years, the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, added. It has a thousand-year history, and is also on top of current events, as Marzia Varvaglione, president of CEEV, which represents all the organizations of European companies, pointed out, “this edition of Vinitaly will unfortunately be remembered mainly for the tariffs from the United States on a a market that is worth 40% of the entire extra-EU wine export. European wine generates 5 billion euros in exports each year, therefore, in this critical moment, we must join together in a common front, and request a prompt response from the institutions, oriented towards dialogue and negotiations. Vinitaly is the home of wine. This is where we will put the future of the sector back at center, starting with competitiveness, promotion and the relationship between wine and health, topics that we will discuss together with the European Commissioners”. “The world has completely changed”, Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, underlined, “and not just right now. Over the past 5 years, between the pandemic and wars, globalization has gone into crisis. Nevertheless, the Country that has grown the most in exports is Italy, which boasts fourth place in the world in exports, behind giants such as the USA and China, and Germany. This means that Italy is a resilient Country, and even in critical moments it grows more than others do. We must seize new opportunities for growth, which is why we have told the European Commission to accelerate in the most interesting areas, such as India, Asia, Mercosur. Italy is the country that knows how to react to crises in the best way: don't panic. If we trigger an escalation, we will hurt ourselves even more. The Government is moving forward, but also avoiding gut reactions. We have presented reforms to make our continent competitive. Italy has become the front of reforms in Europe and is pressing it to have an adequate agenda. We must avoid escalations, like the 50% on whisky because it would generate further retaliation. We have started asking to suspend all the Green Deal’s crazy rules, which have stopped the automotive industry, and we have asked for measures similar to "Buy America: Buy European", while at the same time, we have asked to support Made in Europe”.
Wine is, of course, a part of Europe as it is a part of Italy, not only economically, but in its essence, Alessandro Giuli, Minister of Culture, reminded us: “can you imagine if there were no wine in Italy? The most beautiful part of poetry, art, sculpture would be missing. Homer defined the sea, “black as wine”. Wine, like the sea, knows no obstacles, and knows no tariffs. It will win. Wine is the symposium, the banquet, the idea of following “peak lines” to reflect on our civilization. Everything revolves around wine. Let’s just think about how many peace agreements have been signed with a toast, or how much wine has accompanied art. And, I would like to add, how can you criminalize wine, the heart of the liturgy of Mass? The root of the word wine is the same as that of Venus: wine is love”.
Wine is also economy, as Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto Region, which alone is worth almost 3 billion euros in wine exports (as he also reiterated in our interview), said, on a practical note, “first in Italy and first in the USA, at 600 million euros. We hope that the EU will take all the appropriate countermeasures, but we certainly cannot go head-to-head with the United States, which has been a friendly country for a very long time. Indeed, we can say that Italy is the only "USA friendly" G7 country, and it can act as a "bridge" between the US and the EU”.
The Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, closed with a positive message, saying, “2024 was a record year, agri-food exports reached 70 billion euros, of which 8.1 billion euros in wine. there is a common thread in everything we have said, - no one wants a trade war with the US. We must fight on our own ground, as a food quality superpower, whose value is our history and everything that cannot be outsourced. On this level, we will win over anyone. The US is an important market as it is worth 10% of our agri-food exports. It is not essential, even though obviously, we do not want to give it up. Italy”, Lollobrigida said, “must play on its production rules, and the EU must no longer be bound by ideological rules, therefore, less bureaucracy and more support for farmers, working to promote the quality we have, including wine, and not criminalizing. I believe that the we have definitely taken the right path, opening to new markets and consolidating the ones we have”.