PARIS — French wine exports and spirits shipments slid for a third straight year in 2025, with China’s anti-dumping duties and renewed U.S. tariff threats squeezing demand for flagship products such as Cognac, the industry group FEVS said Tuesday. Exports fell 8% in value to 14.3 billion euros ($17.0 billion) and 3% in volume to 168 million cases as trade barriers and softer consumer demand hit key markets, Feb. 10, 2026.
The Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters said the downturn has dragged French wine exports and spirits sales down 17% in value since 2022, knocking the sector from France’s second-largest export industry to third behind aerospace and cosmetics, according to figures released Tuesday by the trade body.
French wine exports squeezed by U.S. tariffs and China duties
In the United States, French wine exports and spirits shipments dropped 21% in value in 2025 to about 3.0 billion euros, with volumes falling below 30 million cases, FEVS said. The group pointed to tariff increases introduced in 2025 and the risk of further hikes — including talk of rates as high as 200% — that cooled buying, especially in the second half of the year.
“There is a real decline in the United States and the volume correction may not have been sufficient, and perhaps we will see another volume correction in 2026,” said Gabriel Picard, FEVS chairman, speaking ahead of the Wine Paris trade show.
Le Monde reported that U.S. tariffs on French wines and spirits were reintroduced at 10% in April 2025 and raised to 15% in August, weighing on French wine exports even as the United States remained France’s top market by value. The same report said the sector still generated a trade surplus of 13.2 billion euros in 2025, though it was down from the prior year, according to Le Monde’s account of the FEVS data.
Cognac hit hardest as China tightens access
China, once a key growth engine for French producers, saw purchases fall 20% to 767 million euros in 2025, FEVS said, as anti-dumping measures sharply curtailed shipments of Cognac, Armagnac and other wine-based spirits. French wine exports to China have held up better than spirits overall, but exporters say the wider chill has made distributors cautious across categories.
“Geopolitical tensions between France and China marked the end of cognac in China. Now stopping something doesn’t take long, but rebuilding takes a long time,” Picard said.
China imposed anti-dumping duties on European brandy — including Cognac — ranging from 27.7% to 34.9% for five years, while allowing exemptions for some major producers if they kept prices above minimum levels, the Associated Press reported when the measures were announced.
The European Union, arguing the measures breach trade rules, has also moved the dispute into the World Trade Organization process, the WTO said in a dispute-settlement update.
Europe steadies while emerging markets grow
Within Europe, French wine exports and spirits sales held broadly stable at about 4.1 billion euros, FEVS said, with resilience in the United Kingdom even as consumers faced fiscal pressure. Outside the traditional power markets, the group highlighted stronger momentum in countries including South Africa, Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia — a diversification trend exporters hope can blunt the impact of tariffs and political risk.
Picard said the sector could benefit over time from improved market access through trade negotiations, including possible new EU trade deals with India and the Mercosur bloc, but warned 2026 could remain difficult if barriers stay in place.
A downturn after a post-pandemic peak
The latest decline in French wine exports follows a swing from boom to slowdown. Exports hit a record in 2022 as higher prices pushed overseas sales to 17.2 billion euros, Reuters reported at the time. They then fell in 2023 as inflation pinched consumers and U.S. distributors worked through stock, according to a 2024 Reuters report.
Trade tensions have repeatedly made French wine exports collateral damage. In 2019, the first Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on certain European goods, including French wine, in retaliation over aircraft subsidies, Reuters reported when the duties were imposed.
When tariff risks returned in 2025, France sought to help exporters move product before new measures took effect; the European Commission approved a 5 billion euro scheme designed to facilitate wine and spirits shipments to the U.S. during a limited window, Reuters reported in May 2025.
For now, exporters say the outlook for French wine exports will hinge on whether Washington and Beijing ease trade pressure — and whether producers can keep building demand in markets less exposed to geopolitical shocks.
