EU-US trade deal expected to confirm duty-free trade in spirits, French exporters say

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PARIS (Reuters) -The French wine and spirits exporters’ federation FEVS said on Monday the trade deal struck between the European Union and the United States was expected to confirm duty-free trade in spirits.

Since April, U.S. duties on EU spirits had been provisionally set at 10%.

As far as wine was concerned, not everything has been decided yet, the federation said, calling on the European Commission and France to obtain a cut in customs duties. 

“Disaster has been avoided, but the coming days will be crucial for the sector,” FEVS said in a statement.  

“The agreement … should confirm the restoration of bilateral trade free of duties for spirits, which we are eager to see confirmed in the official documents expected,” said federation President Gabriel Picard.

“When it comes to wines, everything is not yet settled: that is why we are encouraging the European Commission and France to fully commit to this final stretch, to obtain the reduction in customs duties on wines, a proposal supported by both American and European stakeholders,” he added.

According to a study by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association, a 15% increase in customs duties on wines would result in the loss of 17,000 jobs and a loss of more than $2.5 billion worth of business in the United States.

Under the framework deal, announced on Sunday between two economies accounting for almost a third of global trade, the U.S. will impose a 15% import tariff on most EU goods from next month, but it offers some protection for critical industries such as cars and pharmaceuticals.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Sybille de la Hamaide; Editing by Jan Harvey and Rod Nickel)