EXCLUSIVE: Major Wine Importer Halts Operations Because of Looming Trump Tariffs

Jenny & François Selections froze all imports as the wine industry anxiously awaits "Liberation Day."

One of the most prominent natural wine importers in the United States has halted all imports as uncertainties about President Donald Trump’s undisclosed tariff plans loom over the industry.

“We have paused all imports as we wait to understand what the tariffs will be,” Jenny Lefcourt, owner of Jenny & François, which imports wines from over 13 countries and distributes to 46 states, wrote in an email to me.

On March 13, Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on all European alcohol, and as April 2 — the date his reciprocal tariffs are set to go into effect — approaches, importers are in an anxious limbo.

“Hopefully it becomes clear and doesn’t remain a moving target or else it will be impossible to continue to import wine,” she said.

Lefcourt’s decision comes after the United States Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA) urged its members to freeze all alcohol imports from the EU.

“We strongly advise American companies to HALT ALL SHIPMENTS OF WINE, SPIRITS & BEER FROM THE E.U.,” the email reads. “The current risk of tariffs is too high.”

Earlier this week, the USWTA, which was formed in 2020 in resistance against the first Trump administration’s threats on wine tariffs, sent lobbyists to Washington, D.C., but it’s not clear if they had any success.

Despite their efforts, Lefcourt said she doesn’t foresee Trump having more sympathy for wine than any other product — when the CEOs of major car companies tried to convince the administration to revert the tariffs on auto imports, Trump said he “couldn’t care less” if car prices hike.

In an email to the alliance, President Ben Aneff acknowledged many other importers also stalled business — ahead of April 2, which Trump has dubbed “Liberation Day,” the administration has not communicated where the plans for wine tariffs stand.

“We know that many of you have halted all shipments of wine from the EU, as we are still in purgatory, waiting for the forthcoming announcements from the EU and the U.S. regarding steel tariffs and any potential retaliations that could impact our industry,” Aneff said.

Jenny & François Selections began business in 2000 to showcase small natural wine producers around the globe. Each of the wines they import is produced with minimized impact on the earth, little to no human intervention, and zero additives. They present bottles that are a celebration of the small European towns they come from and of the purity of a vineyard’s terroir.

In his March 13 “Truth,” Trump wrote the move would “be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.” That is untrue.

Since Prohibition, the U.S. has adopted a three-pronged process for selling foreign alcohol to American consumers: an importer purchases the alcohol from the foreign producers, the importer sells it to a distributor, and the distributor sells it to retail shops, bars, and restaurants. What lies in between these tiers are businesses integral to the U.S. economy. The number of steps foreign alcohol must go through to reach customers is good for generating money in the U.S.

American distributors rely significantly — some exclusively — on European wine markets. If those distributors bottom out, American wineries won’t have any distributors to sell their wine.

Bloomberg reported that rather than imposing directly reciprocal tariffs, the U.S. plans to enact single-rate, blanketed tariffs against each individual trading blocs. Levies against the EU are expected to land between 10% and 25%. Trump initially threatened the 200% tariff in retaliation to the EU’s 50% tariff on U.S. whiskey. But he didn’t double down. He quadrupled down, demanding they rescind the tariff or face a 200 percent tariff on all European wines, champagnes, and other alcohol products.

To Trump, the post — which garnered roughly 34,400 likes and 8,320 ReTruths, one way to demonstrate support on Truth Social — was a big move in his who’s-got-bigger-balls competition. To the global wine industry — from Jenny & François to mom-and-pop wine shops — it was a threat to their livelihoods.

“I am just really hoping it’s 10% and not 200%,” Lefcourt said. “At 10%, we will figure out how to continue forward... beyond that it becomes very difficult.”