China tariffs putting the squeeze on winemakers
China’s retaliatory tariffs raised the cost to one California winemaker by "almost 100 percent."
Hank Wetzel of Alexander Valley Vineyards told FOX Business' Connell McShane on “After the Bell, that “The import duties now have increased the cost to our importer almost 100 percent,” he told
After the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products, Beijing retaliated by raising import duties on $110 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Hank and Linda Wetzel founded the winery at Alexander Valley in 1975 and began shipping to China in 2018.
Wetzel said he will soon visit China to check out a store and see how his wines are being perceived in the market place.
“Having been there and seeing the wine audience there, I just think there is tremendous opportunity,” he said. “They’re educated people, a lot of people know about wine.”
Wetzel said the U.S.-China trade war won’t financially strain the California winery.
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“Thankfully it’s a relatively small part of our market, we’ve been selling and growing in the United States for about 40 years and the export market is something we’ve never really concentrated on until recently.”