Happy New Year – USA Places 25% Tariff On European Cognac

Just when you thought you were glad to be ridding yourself of the horrors of 2020, the USA greeted the new year of 2021 with the news of their intention of placing a 25% tariff on certain European cognacs. Officially, the USA Trade Representative (USTR) announced it will adjust tariffs on “certain Cognacs, grape brandies and wine from France and Germany” to a 25% duty rate beginning on January 12, 2021.

The tariffs were a continued retaliatory tactic in a 16-year ongoing dispute between the EU and USA over subsidies for plane manufacturer Airbus, which the USA claims caused Boeing to lose sales and market share, affecting revenue for US producers and jobs for US workers.

That then resulted in the introduction by the USA of a 25% tariff on single malt Scotch, single malt Irish whiskey and liqueurs from the EU in October 2019.

This then elicited a response from the EU in November 2020, when the EU imposed a 25% retaliatory tariff on imports of USA rum, brandy, vodka and vermouth.