Wine Tariffs 2026: What Changed, Who Pays, What It Costs

Last updated: October 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Tariff rules change often, so confirm every detail with a lawyer before you price, buy, or ship.

Wine tariffs in 2026 have been rewritten three times since February, from a Supreme Court ruling to a temporary surcharge to the tariffs in force today. Here is what applies now, what it costs, and what importers, restaurants, and venues on a digital wine list can do about it.

Quick answer: As of October 2026, most imported wine carries a Section 301 "forced labor" tariff that took effect July 24, 2026. For EU wine, it tops the normal duty up to a combined 10%. New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and South Africa pay 12.5% on top of any normal duty (qualifying Australian and Chilean wine pays none under their trade agreements). Packaged Canadian wine has been banned since September 29, and bulk wine over 4 liters pays 50%.

What happened to the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down?

They are gone, but replacement tariffs took their place within days. On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not allow the president to impose tariffs, which ended the 2025 "reciprocal" rates, including 15% on EU wine.

A 10% global surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act followed on February 24 and expired at its 150-day limit on July 24. The Court of International Trade found it unlawful on May 7, but only for two importers and the State of Washington, and that ruling is on hold during the appeal.

What wine tariffs are in force in 2026?

New Section 301 tariffs of 10% or 12.5%, which started the same minute Section 122 expired. The US Trade Representative (USTR) found that 60 trading partners fail to ban imports of goods made with forced labor or fail to enforce such a ban. It set 10% for those with a ban, a commitment to one, or a partial regime like the UK's, and 12.5% for the rest.

The EU gets "net of MFN" treatment: the tariff tops the normal duty up to a combined 10%, and since wine's normal duty is a small share of its value, EU wine pays 10% in all. Switzerland, Japan, and South Korea get the same treatment at 12.5%, while other 12.5% origins pay it on top. No wine is on the product exemption lists, so wine from the 60 economies pays these rates, except Mexican and Canadian wine entered duty-free under USMCA.

What is the tariff on wine from each country?

The rate follows where the wine is made, not where your importer is based.

The normal duty itself is small: for wine in bottles of 2 liters or less, 6.3 cents per liter for still wine up to 14% alcohol, 16.9 cents above that, and 19.8 cents for sparkling wine. Origins outside the 60 aren't covered, so Georgian, Armenian, Moldovan, and Lebanese wine should pay only the normal duty (confirm with your broker). Wines of Georgia and the Georgian wine importers GEO US Trading and Georgian House of Greater Washington are ShareVino partners, and our look at Armenian wine on Los Angeles wine lists shows how one of these origins is priced.

How much of a New York wine list do tariffs touch?

Most of it. Of the 14,261 wines on the 920 New York restaurant and wine bar lists ShareVino has digitized, 85% are imported and three in four come from the EU, with Italy and France alone accounting for more than half. Wines from 12.5% origins such as New Zealand, Chile, and South Africa are only about 5% of the total, but 42% of lists carry at least one.

Canada barely registers: 12 wines on nine lists, eight of them Inniskillin ice wines that can't be restocked. Counts cover lists digitized August 11 to October 29, 2026, one entry per wine per list, and show what's listed, not what sells.

Is the 15% US–EU deal rate on wine still in force?

No, the 15% stopped when the IEEPA tariffs fell, and EU wine now pays 10% in total. The August 2025 US–EU joint statement had confirmed a single 15% rate on most EU goods, counting the normal duty, with no exemption for wine and spirits, as EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič acknowledged; that rate ran through the IEEPA tariffs the Supreme Court voided.

The US Wine Trade Alliance, a group of companies in the American wine trade, sees the best chance for a wine exemption in broader US–EU talks, and France's trade minister said on October 23 that he had recently asked USTR for one (The Irish Times). None had been agreed as of October 29.

Did the 200% tariff on French wine and Champagne happen?

No, the 200% tariff threatened in January 2026 was never imposed. The President threatened it on January 19 after President Macron declined to join his proposed "Board of Peace" (POLITICO Europe), then threatened 100% on French wine and Champagne in June over France's digital services tax (Fox Business). We found no proclamation, notice, or USTR action imposing either as of October 29, though the US Wine Trade Alliance warned that a 200% tariff, even as a threat, would freeze commerce and accelerate layoffs.

Why can't Canadian wine be imported into the US now?

Because the US banned imports of packaged Canadian alcohol from September 29, 2026. The fight began in March 2025, when every Canadian province and territory stopped buying or selling American alcohol over earlier US tariffs; only Alberta and Saskatchewan have since lifted their bans, according to the White House. In July 2026, the US used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to set a 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods, including alcohol, from August 22, and a September 8 proclamation then banned Canadian wine, beer, and many spirits in bottles, cans, boxes, kegs, and other consumer packaging. Only bulk wine in containers over 4 liters still enters, at 50%.

Who pays wine tariffs, and will prices go up?

The US importer pays at the border, and so far, prices have moved less than the headlines suggest. Foreign wineries don't pay US tariffs, though some share the cost through discounts, and in 2019 importers absorbed part of it in thinner margins; later tiers mark up a cost that now includes the tariff.

A working paper on the 2019 tariffs on European wine, from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the American Association of Wine Economists, found that for a wine costing $5 at the border, $1.19 in tariffs meant about $1.59 more for shoppers, even after producers cut prices about 5%, and that shelf prices took nearly a year to adjust. This round looks gradual too: store prices for wine were 0.7% lower in September 2026 than a year earlier, and restaurant and bar prices 1.8% higher, across all wine (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Rates have also moved both ways: EU wine paid 15% from August 2025 until the Supreme Court ruling and pays 10% now, while Australian and Chilean wine went from 10% to 12.5% in July. For where wine demand is still growing, see our look at wine industry trends.

How do tariffs affect wine prices? A worked example

In a simple model, a $1 tariff at the border becomes about $2.50 on a store shelf and about $5 on a restaurant list. This example is illustrative only: the markups are round assumptions, not industry averages, and the working paper above found a smaller real-world increase of about $1.34 per $1 of tariff (its central estimate).

Assumptions: a $10 FOB bottle of still wine; $1.00 for freight, insurance, and clearance; federal excise tax of $0.21 a bottle ($1.07 per gallon, before any credits); markups of 30% for the importer, 30% for the distributor, and 50% for the retailer; and a restaurant price of 3x distributor cost.

What can importers and distributors do about wine tariffs?

Focus on what you control: records, sourcing mix, pricing, and communication.

• Claim IEEPA refunds through CBP's CAPE system, open since April 20, 2026, for certain unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the last 80 days.

• For older entries, CAPE's Phase 3 (since October 6) takes claims only from importers with their own court case; otherwise, protest within 180 days of liquidation.

• Keep records of Section 122 payments; refunds depend on the appeal and so far cover only the plaintiffs.

• Confirm HTS codes and origin for every SKU; still wine over 14% alcohol pays a higher normal duty.

• Banned Canadian products that arrived before September 29 but weren't yet entered, including stock in bonded warehouses, still owe the 50% tariff.

On ShareVino, importers can update pricing across a whole region in one edit, and every rep's portfolio link shows the change at once (importers and distributors). When a rate changes, send the new price and the reason together.

What restaurants and wineries can do

If you run a restaurant or wine bar

Review imported by-the-glass pours first as distributors reprice, and lean on domestic and lower-tariff origins to steady costs. If you pour Canadian ice wine, plan a replacement; a German or Austrian Eiswein pays 10% in total. A digital wine list lets you change a price the day a distributor does, and on ShareVino the edit goes live for guests instantly. See also Your Wine List Is Costing You Sales (And It Isn't the Markup).

If you're a US winery

The Canada dispute has hit exports hardest: the Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition, which speaks for 59 US drinks-industry groups, says US wine exports to Canada fell 87% by value, from $456 million to $60 million, comparing 12-month periods from March to February, without naming its data source. The White House puts the drop for all US alcohol over March 2025 to February 2026 at about 81%. Some trade reporting links California's oversupply partly to lost Canadian sales, and our look at private label wine shows where some of that surplus is going.

What could change next?

Four open items could still move rates or refunds:

1. The Section 122 appeal at the Federal Circuit, which now affects only refunds and isn't on the court's calendar for November or December.

2. The challenge to the Section 301 forced-labor tariffs, argued at the Court of International Trade on September 30; a ruling could come at any time.

3. USTR's overcapacity investigation of 16 economies, including the EU, Switzerland, Japan, and Mexico, which had produced no tariff proposal by October 29; any new tariffs would likely stack on today's.

4. The Airbus truce. The 25% tariffs put on many French, German, and Spanish still wines in 2019 came from the Airbus–Boeing dispute and have been paused since 2021, indefinitely according to the European Commission. On October 26, USTR said a record European Investment Bank loan to Airbus "injects substantial uncertainty" into transatlantic aerospace trade, but it reimposed nothing: a return of those duties is a risk, not a scheduled change.

FAQ: wine tariffs 2026

What is the current tariff on French and Italian wine?

French and Italian wine, like all EU wine, pays 10% in total under the Section 301 action in force since July 24, 2026, from Champagne to Prosecco and Brunello di Montalcino (Prosecco DOC and the Brunello di Montalcino consortium are ShareVino partners). Because the normal duty counts inside that 10%, the new tariff itself is a little less, especially for inexpensive Prosecco.

What is the tariff on New Zealand wine in 2026?

New Zealand wine pays an extra 12.5% plus the normal duty, according to USTR and New Zealand's foreign ministry. Australia, Chile, and South Africa pay the same 12.5%.

Is Canadian ice wine banned in the US?

Yes. Bottled Canadian wine, including Ontario ice wine, has been banned from import since September 29, 2026, though bottles already in the US can still be sold.

Can importers get refunds for 2025 tariffs?

Yes, in most cases: by October 2, the government said more than 75% of about $166 billion in IEEPA duties had been refunded with interest (Davis Wright Tremaine). Older entries may need a protest or your own court case.

Key Takeaway

As of October 2026, EU wine pays a combined 10% at the US border; New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and South Africa pay 12.5% on top of any normal duty; and packaged Canadian wine is banned. In a simple model, a $1 duty adds about $2.50 on a shop shelf as markups compound, but real increases have been smaller and slower. Rates are still moving, so confirm them with a customs broker before every order.

Research Cited

Rates come from official US sources, with law-firm and trade-association analysis for context. The worked example uses assumed markups and the New York figures count wines listed, so treat them as directional insight rather than proof.

• Supreme Court ruling: Holland & Knight.

• Section 122: Global Trade Alert; Cozen O'Connor; and Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

• Section 301 rates: USTR, Federal Register, White House, and CBP.

• Court challenge: Transport Topics and Troutman Pepper Locke.

• Refunds: CBP and Davis Wright Tremaine.

• Wine rates by origin: New Zealand MFAT and Vinetur (US Wine Trade Alliance analysis).

• US–EU framework: White House, Just Drinks, and The Irish Times.

• Overcapacity and Airbus: USTR (March), Holland & Knight, USTR (October), and European Commission.

• Canada: Proclamation 11046, Proclamation 11061, Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition, and The Drinks Business.

• French wine threats: POLITICO Europe, Fox Business, and The Drinks Business.

• Price pass-through: NBER working paper (also AAWE), Vinexposium, and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Duty and excise: USITC tariff schedule and TTB.

• New York lists: ShareVino platform data (14,261 wines on 920 lists digitized August 11 to October 29, 2026; one entry per wine per list; sake and other non-wine drinks excluded).

Want your list to keep up when prices move? Explore ShareVino digital wine lists, which update the moment you change a price, with no reprinting.

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