PHOTO: SUPPLIEDUnited States trade tariffs on European wine had a possible silver lining for New Zealand wine exporters. New Zealand Winegrowers general manager, advocacy, Jeffrey Clarke said while it was too early to pop the cork on the overall effect, the New Zealand wine sector was in a good place, as the US' third biggest wine importer, behind Italy and France. Agriservices bank Rabobank estimated about 60% of European wine sales could be affected by value and said the US action could have an influence on French and Spanish wine exports. Customs service total wine exports for the year to August 2019 - across both bottled and bulk - was 268 million litres, valued at $1.8 billion. According to NZ Winegrowers, Americans quaffed $557 million of New Zealand wine last year, followed by the UK at $446 million.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 05, 2019 15:33 UTC