Chilean wine exports to the United States fell 33% in the first half of 2026.

Chilean wine exporters are losing ground in the United States at a much faster rate than in the rest of the world, with sales to the American market falling by nearly a third in value in the first half of 2026 and a new tariff now adding another cost burden.

According to figures from the trade association Vinos de Chile cited by the Chilean newspaper La Tercera and by WiP, Chile’s wine exports to the United States fell 33% in value and 23% in volume between January and June. In other foreign markets, the decline was about 8% in both value and volume over the same period.

That gap matters because it suggests the setback in the United States is not explained only by weaker global wine consumption. The difference amounts to an additional deterioration of about 25 percentage points in value and 15 percentage points in volume compared with Chile’s performance in its other export destinations. In other words, Chilean producers are facing a sharper problem in the American market than in the rest of their international business.

The figures also point to pressure on pricing or on the mix of wines being sold. When export value falls faster than volume, the average unit value tends to drop as well. Based on the rounded percentages reported, the implied reduction is about 13%. That estimate is approximate and may reflect a shift toward lower-priced products, changes in the categories being shipped, or both.

Chile has also ceded market share in the United States. Its share of American wine imports has fallen to 5.4% from 6.1% in 2024, a loss of 0.7 percentage points. That may appear small, but in a large import market it signals that Chile is not simply shrinking along with overall demand. It is also being displaced, at least in part, by other suppliers or by changing buying patterns.

The pressure is likely to intensify after a new U.S. tariff took effect on July 24. Chilean wine is now subject to a 12.5% tariff, following a U.S. resolution issued on July 23. That is 2.5 percentage points higher than the previous surcharge and 12.5 percentage points above the zero-tariff treatment that had applied until April 2025.

The timing is important. The first-half export declines happened before the new 12.5% tariff came into force, which means the deterioration in the U.S. market was already underway. The new duty does not explain the January-to-June contraction, but it adds a new obstacle at a time when Chilean producers are already struggling to defend volume, value and shelf space in the United States.

For wineries and exporters, the tariff raises the risk of further margin compression. Importers may ask producers to absorb part of the added cost in order to keep retail prices stable. If that happens, Chilean suppliers would be trying to recover from a drop in sales while also earning less per bottle. If the cost is passed through instead, wines could become less competitive in a market where price sensitivity has become more pronounced and where consumers have many alternatives.

The latest figures do not show the absolute value in dollars or the total volume in liters, so they do not indicate how much revenue was lost in nominal terms. Still, the pattern is clear. In the rest of the world, Chilean wine exports are down, but at a manageable pace compared with the United States. In the American market, the country is facing a steeper decline in sales, a decline in its import share, and now a higher tariff.

That combination is especially significant because the United States has long been one of the key external markets for wine producers across the Southern Hemisphere. A fall of 33% in value in just six months is not a routine fluctuation, and the weaker volume figures show the problem is not limited to discounting or exchange-rate effects. Fewer shipments are going out, and the shipments that do arrive appear to be yielding less value on average.

The data reported by La Tercera and WiP were provided by Vinos de Chile, and the published accounts did not include the underlying dollar totals or liter volumes behind the percentage changes.