Now That U.S. Tariffs Are in Place, French Wineries Are Calculating Survival

Wine’s taste may be bottled poetry, but its mathematics are often merciless. The U.S. government has implemented 15 percent tariffs on all European Union wines. Add on a 15 percent decline in the dollar versus the euro since January, and French wines are potentially 30 percent more expensive the moment they arrive on American shores, and their importers need to pay the customs duties.That equation threatens to sever one of wine’s most enduring love affairs—that between French p