Thauvenay (France) (AFP)

At Domaine Serge Laloue, a wine-growing property in the Loire Valley, three pallets of wine boxes are ready to go to the United States.

An address in the suburbs of Boston, "Haverhill, MA", strikes a green label in large letters.

"Sancerre wine sells very well in the United States," owner Christine Laloue told AFP.

Yet, like most French winegrowers, she has not digested the heavy blow received in mid-October 2019 when the Trump administration "brutally" applied a 25% tariff on bottled, non-sparkling French wines. , of less than 14 degrees, risking higher prices for consumers.

The episode shocked Ms. Laloue.

At the end of September, a shipment of his wine had left France by boat for the United States at a negotiated rate.

On arrival at the port, on October 18, the first day of application of the new American customs tax, its price had taken 25% more.

An "aberrant" memory for the winegrower: "Commercial relations, that can't be that", she protests, "nobody can work in these conditions".

The tax, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, torpedoed sales: American imports of French wines fell by 50% in the first ten months of 2020, according to the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS).

Over the year, the Federation estimates the shortfall at more than $ 500 million.

A hard blow: the United States is the leading consumer country for French wines, outside of France.

- "Heresy" -

The tax, applied in retaliation to a trade dispute over the level of public aid, indeed concerned Airbus and Boeing.

In Europe, German, Spanish and English wines have also been targeted by Washington, which has thus "punished" the viticulture of the four founding countries of Airbus.

As do the Spanish olive oil, Italian cheese, and British whiskey producers.

A 15% tax also hits European aircraft and aircraft parts.

"The tax creates uncertainty, because it is renegotiated every six months, and each time, we do not know at all what sauce we are going to be eaten. This creates uncertainty about hiring, investments, life at the estate in general. It's quite complicated and we tremble every time the date arrives, "adds Ms. Dezat, who sells 60% of her wine in the United States.

To cope, some have started to export their wine in bulk, by boat, because it is not subject to taxes.

"To let loose wine leave to be bottled in the United States, frankly it's heresy", Christine Laloue is annoyed.

"Bottling, especially of Sancerre, is a fundamental operation for the quality of the wine".

- "Loser-loser" -

By managing to "divide European countries among themselves" Trump, reputed not to drink alcohol himself, "won" the game, laments a French wine expert.

Nevertheless, after a year of penance, the thaw may have started.

The WTO, which had authorized Washington to tax European products to the tune of $ 7 billion a year, has in turn authorized the European Union to also take retaliatory measures against the United States for its state aid to Boeing, to the tune of $ 4 billion per year.

In this perspective, Europe has already drawn up a list of products that could be taxed: airliners produced in the United States, tractors, sweet potatoes, peanuts, frozen orange juice, tobacco, ketchup or even Pacific salmon, according to an updated list obtained Monday by AFP.

Even if they are not toasting Trump's health, French winegrowers do not want Europe to raise the stakes, and in turn tax American wines.

"For us taxes, whether they are on one side or the other of the Atlantic, is lose-lose," said a manager of wine exporters who requested anonymity.

"We are calling for the EU and the US to negotiate, and in the meantime, we are asking for a suspension of the current US tariffs."

© 2020 AFP