US duties, awaiting August 1, rumors of a possible safe conduct for alcoholic beverages (and more)

While it is clearly too early to give in to sudden enthusiasm, the rumors circulating about US tariffs, after President Trump moved the deadline for negotiations with the EU from July 15 to August 1 and sent letters to various countries around the world, give hope to the wine world, both in Italy and Europe. According to rumors, in fact, after the possibility of tariffs being moved to 20%, as announced in April, or to 17% on all European agriculture, it now appears that the agreement being negotiated between the US and the EU would provide for basic tariffs on the American side to be maintained at 10% on European products, with some sectors, however, being spared, including alcohol (and also aircraft). This is all to be verified, of course, and it remains to be seen whether wine would be included, but the letter from the US Wine Trade Alliance seems to confirm that there is a general improvement in the situation, explaining how the US administration “has conducted serious negotiations with the EU in recent days and, although no official agreement has been reached, it appears that progress has been made and that things are moving in the right direction”.
It should be noted, among other things, that in general the spirits industry (which is much more important for US producers from an economic point of view than wine, ed.) already enjoyed a “zero for zero” agreement. Words and rumors, in any case, should be taken with a grain of salt, like the many that have been said and reported in these complicated months, but for the first time in a long time, they take on a more moderately optimistic tone for a sector, such as wine, in Italy, Europe, and worldwide, facing epochal challenges. And resolving the issue of US tariffs, the world's largest wine market, would certainly help.