Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Soapbox: Time to look beyond duty easement

Published: 18 December, 2024

Barring a near-miracle, it is now highly unlikely that the current UK government will make permanent the temporary duty easement that is ending this coming 1 February. Speaking with Andrew Catchpole for the first of a two-part Soapbox, Miles Beale of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) – who campaigned tirelessly on that matter and helped galvanise the trade – says it’s time to learn the lessons from this “incredibly disappointing” outcome and look ahead to the key bumps coming down the road in 2025. The trade can, he argues, force through more positive and desirable outcomes in the near future, if it pulls together in a similarly galvanised way.

Trump's tariffs provide bump for Italian wines

Published: 06 February, 2020

Wine tariffs introduced as part of a transatlantic dispute on aeronautics have provided something of a boost for Italy on the secondary market, with the value of the country’s top wines increasing by an average of 12.5% during 2019 on a leading UK platform.

Trump trade truce puts US tariffs on French wine on hold

Published: 22 January, 2020

The USA’s threat of slapping 100% tariffs on US$2.4 billion worth of French imports including wine and Champagne seems to have been put on hold after the countries’ leaders announced a ceasefire on Twitter.

Trump versus France spat intensifies with threat of 100% wine tariffs

Published: 03 December, 2019

Tariffs on French wine entering the US could be subjected to 100% tariffs, authorities have warned, following an investigation into whether a new technology tax in France unfairly targets American companies.

Mixing politics and wine

Published: 22 November, 2019

What attracted me to wine journalism nine years ago was that the stories were about the wine and the people, not cocaine-fuelled celebrity mishaps or sexual exploits involving a reverse osmosis machine. The beauty of wine was that, by and large, there was no 'news.'

Johnson urges Trump to lift tariffs on Scotch

Published: 06 November, 2019

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged US President Donald Trump to lift tariffs on Scotch whisky.

France rebuffs Trump on wine tax threat

Published: 29 July, 2019

Bruno Le Maire, France’s minister of finance, has rejected a threat from US President Donald Trump to impose a levy on imports of French wine into the US.