US, stop to the “carousel”: taxes remain for now, moving towards detente. Italy still safe

For now, everything remains as it is. US taxes on European wine, or rather French, German and Spanish wine, remain in force, as confirmed yesterday by the US Trade Representative (USTR), who will not propose revisions to the current tariffs on EU goods as part of the trade dispute between Airbus and Boeing. For the European Union it is not a great news, for the Italian wine - that as announced by the U.S. association of beverage importers (Nabi) is saved once again - yes. For Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) it is however a first important signal of thawing of the new American Administration. For the secretary general of UIV, Paolo Castelletti, “for days in the corridors of Brussels they have been discussing a possible mutual suspension of Airbus-Boeing duties as the first act of détente in transatlantic relations. For now, the averted danger for a new carousel is an important signal from the Biden Administration. We hope that the next few days will mark an even clearer turning point: European wine trusts in a renewed stability of the American market”.
Officially, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) invoked a legal exception to suspend the upcoming “carousel” expected this month because, in agreement with “the affected U.S. industry, they agree that a review is not necessary”. Citing the last reviews in January 2021 (which affected other products, including wines from France and Germany), U.S. Commerce said it “will continue to consider further action”. In other words, according to Uiv, Ustr has decided to stall. According to the National Association of Beverage Importers (Nabi), the decision not to increase the damages suffered by wine importers is good news, considering that these products are in no way related to the dispute.
The history on the Airbus-Boeing dispute goes back to late 2019, when at the WTO the U.S. was authorized to impose taxes on nearly $7.5 billion of European goods and services imported each year. A year later, the same World Trade Organization authorized the EU to impose $4 billion in taxes on products imported from the United States. The U.S. duties had been extended in late 2020, just days before the end of Trump’s term, and affect French and German products: +25% on non-sparkling wines, grape must and cognac, and +15% on certain aircraft components. Now, with the change of guard in Washington, the common hope of the US and the EU is to overcome the clash, and the reciprocal zeroing of duties that will put an end to a spiral that serves no one.