Republican senators are making the case that President Donald Trump’s early-morning threat to slap 200% tariffs on wine and other alcohol from Europe would be a boon for American industry. Lawmakers representing California and Oregon — where the vast majority of American wine is made — couldn’t disagree more.
“It would hit the Pacific Northwest like a wrecking ball and I’m gonna fight it with everything I’ve got,” Sen. Ron Wyden told reporters Thursday.
“One out of four jobs revolves around international trade,” Wyden said of Oregon, saying the state is particularly vulnerable to trade wars. Oregon, California and Washington represent about 87% of American wine production.
Lawmakers were caught off guard by Trump’s call to sharply increase tariffs on European alcohol. Even so, most Republican senators quickly backed the president’s policy.
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Sen. Josh Hawley suggested the tariffs would be great for his state of Missouri — and California, which is home to most of America’s domestic wine manufacturers.
“Well, good for California wine growers, probably,” Hawley said. “We have one in Missouri, so they’re probably celebrating. We’ll see what happens, hopefully good for our industry.”
California Sen. Alex Padilla, however, argued the tariffs would just raise prices for everyone.
“Tariffs are harmful to the economy, raising prices on consumers across the board,” Padilla said. “The wine industry is obviously headquartered in California, so it’s another example of California in particular bearing the brunt of these bad tariff threats and tariff policies.”
Trump threatened 200% tariffs, which would apply to alcohol products like wine and champagne from European Union nations as a response to the EU’s 50% tariffs on American whiskey. Europe’s tariffs are in response to the 25% rate Trump imposed on aluminum and steel entering the United States.
While Republicans have historically been wary of tariff regimes and the resulting trade wars, many have now adopted Trump’s aggressive trade posturing in recent months.
“We got to get to reciprocal, where everybody’s the same, that’s what he’s trying to do,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville said. “Sooner or later, it’ll all even out.”
“Don’t mess with American whiskey,” Sen. Ted Cruz said.
Some said they appreciated Trump’s broader approach, even if they weren’t following every new development.
“What makes sense to me is when he says, ‘I’m going to put the same tariff on their goods that they put on ours,’ that’s what makes sense to me,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis told NOTUS. “So, if he’s doing wine, my guess is that means that Europe, the EU, is probably putting a big tariff on our wine.”
Though, when NOTUS explained that Trump was responding to European tariffs on whiskey, Lummis made clear that the president’s approach made “sense.”
In conversations with a handful of GOP senators, only Sen. Rand Paul explicitly came out against the tariffs outright.
“I’m not for tariffs,” Paul told NOTUS. “I’m not for the tariff war. I think it’s all a mistake and not good for our country to be involved with these tariff wars.”
“It will only hurt the consumer,” he added.
Wine and spirits producers, now caught in the middle of Trump’s trade wars, say the administration’s trade regime is causing extreme volatility in their business.
Jim Bernau, founder of Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon, told NOTUS that the industry has already been damaged by Trump’s back-and-forth tariff threats against Canada. 46% of exported wines from Oregon went to Canada in 2023, according to the most recent Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census.
Canadians, fed up with Trump’s threats, are taking it out on American alcohol: pulling wine, beer and spirits from shelves, and stores encouraging consumers to “buy Canadian.”
“It’s going to take a long time for Canadians to get over the bad taste in their mouth that our president is giving them,” Bernau said.
Bernau called imported wines an essential part of the American restaurant industry ecosystem, and said there’s no replacement for the unique foreign goods, like French Champagne, that American consumers are accustomed to.
“At a minimum, our leaders who support this approach have the burden of proving that it produces long-term beneficial results,” he said. “And they haven’t even bothered to meet that burden.”
Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a press release that the American spirits industry is “the model” for fair trade with the EU.
“We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector,” Swonger said. “We want toasts, not tariffs.”
It’s not clear that Republicans will be offering much certainty in Congress, however.
“I don’t drink wine,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin told NOTUS. “Canada is trying to pick a fight that they shouldn’t be fighting, and they certainly can’t win. Europe now wants to find themselves in the same fight too. So our economy is what they need. We don’t necessarily have to have theirs.”
“I’m a teetotaller, so it’s not going to affect me,” Sen. Chuck Grassley told NOTUS.
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Mark Alfred and Helen Huiskes are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.
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