{"text":[[{"start":13.74,"text":"France is pushing for champagne and other wines and spirits to be exempt from US tariffs as European officials seek to extract more carve-outs in a trade deal with Washington expected to enter into force on Friday."}],[{"start":29.57,"text":"An agreement reached by the EU with US President Donald Trump on Sunday has created confusion in Brussels and Paris over which products will be excluded from a new 15 per cent tariff applying to most European goods imported by the US."}],[{"start":52.269999999999996,"text":"EU officials insist that talks with Washington are continuing, including on alcoholic beverages. But US officials have said that there will be no carve-outs for spirits and wines, including champagne."}],[{"start":69.85,"text":"Finance minister Éric Lombard told French newspaper Liberation on Monday that an exemption that had been granted to the aviation industry “should apply to spirits”. Junior trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin suggested that France was close to clinching such status for cognac and other spirits. “We understand that spirits are indeed exempted,” he said."}],[{"start":96.44,"text":"Neither of the French officials spoke publicly about the state of the negotiations on wine or champagne, but a finance ministry official said they were trying to exclude all alcoholic beverages from the new tariff rate."}],[{"start":112.53,"text":"“I can just tell you that we seem to be more advanced on spirits than on wines, but we are continuing the engagement here,” an EU official said."}],[{"start":122.51,"text":"A senior EU diplomat suggested that they too believed that spirits had secured an exemption, while wine was still being discussed."}],[{"start":132.75,"text":"France is by far the biggest exporter of alcohol to countries outside of the bloc. In 2024, it exported €12.1bn worth of alcoholic beverages, according to Eurostat, accounting for 41 per cent of total alcohol exports. About two-thirds of this was wine and the rest spirits, with the largest being cognac."}],[{"start":159.29,"text":"Almost a third of French alcohol exports go to the US."}],[{"start":164.57,"text":"Its push for carve-outs has been supported by Italy, the EU’s second-biggest exporter of alcoholic drinks, which exported €6bn worth of alcohol in 2024."}],[{"start":178.47,"text":"Bernard Arnault, the billionaire owner of luxury group LVMH, who attended the US president’s inauguration in January, has been directly lobbying the Trump administration and the European Commission in recent weeks to plead for a favourable trade deal, including for wine and spirits."}],[{"start":198.22,"text":"Arnault wrote in an op-ed in Les Echos newspaper, which he owns, that the fate of both wines and spirits “remained unresolved” in the agreement, adding that the omission “exposes a flagship sector of European viticulture to great uncertainty”."}],[{"start":217.37,"text":"“I hope that the ongoing discussions will help clarify this issue,” said Arnault."}],[{"start":223.25,"text":"LVMH owns Moët Hennessy, which brought in about 7 per cent of the group’s sales last year and is the world’s biggest maker of cognac. It also dominates in the champagne sector with brands such as Veuve Clicquot."}],[{"start":240.32999999999998,"text":"French group Rémy Cointreau is expected to be hit hard, given its heavy reliance on cognac sales, and Pernod Ricard would also be affected, given it exports champagne and whiskies such as Jameson to the US."}],[{"start":256.15999999999997,"text":"The lack of clarity over the carve-out for European alcohol exemplifies a broader confusion over the specifics of the deal."}],[{"start":265.51,"text":"Most EU exports to the US will be covered by a 15 per cent standard rate, but the commission has said it secured exemptions for aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and natural resources."}],[{"start":284.5,"text":"But factsheets explaining the deal by both the commission and the White House have contradicted each other on issues such as steel tariffs and pharmaceuticals. Neither document mentions beverages."}],[{"start":298.63,"text":"The commission said the final details would be reflected in a joint statement, likely to be released on Friday when Trump is also expected to sign executive orders enacting the new tariffs."}],[{"start":313.52,"text":"The French government and opposition politicians have criticised the EU-US accord, although Lombard defended it as the best possible outcome in a bad situation."}],[{"start":327.41999999999996,"text":"Wine and spirits groups have warned that additional tariffs could prove critical for the industry."}],[{"start":334.25999999999993,"text":"Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, secretary-general of CEEV, the European wine industry group, told the Financial Times that the sector “has been living in great uncertainty” since Trump threatened a 200 per cent duty in March, after which shipments were immediately halted for a month."}],[{"start":356.19999999999993,"text":"The US president’s additional 10 per cent tariff applied in April had reduced turnover in the sector by 12 per cent, and the dollar-euro exchange rate was “not helping either”."}],[{"start":368.4799999999999,"text":"There were “no new investments and a lot of nervousness” in the sector, he added."}],[{"start":375.6099999999999,"text":"“A catastrophe has been avoided, but the coming days will be crucial for the French wine and spirits sector,” said the French association of wine and spirits exporters."}],[{"start":388.3099999999999,"text":"Before Trump’s so-called “liberation day” tariff announcement in April, EU spirits and beer imported by the US were tariff-free, while wine buyers had to pay $0.06 per litre. Duties on sparkling wines were $0.20 per litre."}],[{"start":406.6999999999999,"text":"LVMH, Pernod Ricard and Rémy Cointreau declined to comment."}],[{"start":412.33999999999986,"text":"Additional reporting by Adrienne Klasa in Paris"}],[{"start":425.6399999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1753847980_8993.mp3"}