French Wine Exports Fall Sharply After U.S. Tariffs Hit Sales

French wine faced a double blow in 2025, with another weak harvest and a sharp drop in exports, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday, citing poor weather and the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Wine production in France is estimated at 34.4 million hectoliters in 2025, below the 36.2 million hectoliters recorded in 2024, which was already considered a weak year, according to the ministry’s statistics office. Officials said the decline reflected unfavorable weather conditions, including an August heat wave, as well as a reduction in vineyard acreage under a government vine-pull scheme meant to help the industry emerge from crisis.

At the same time, French wine exports excluding spirits fell sharply between August and December 2025, dropping 4% in volume and 10% in value compared with the same period a year earlier. The United States, the largest market for French wine, saw shipments of appellation wines fall 29% in volume and 46% in value, according to the ministry’s analysis of customs data.

The ministry attributed much of that decline to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump beginning in August, including a minimum 15% duty, along with a weaker dollar against the euro that made European products about 10% more expensive on the American market over the period.

Asia also showed weakness. Export value fell 13% to China and 12% to Japan. Across all markets, champagne exports reached their lowest level in 12 years during the period studied by the ministry.

Cognac continued a decline that began in 2020, with export volumes down 20% from August through December 2025 compared with the same months in 2024. The drop was driven by both U.S. tariffs and a Chinese tax on eaux-de-vie introduced in 2024.

Wine remains France’s third-largest export sector after aerospace and cosmetics. At home, consumption also kept falling, down 4% year over year from January through November 2025 in supermarkets and other large retail outlets, excluding sparkling wine.