There will be tariffs on Australian wine, but it’s not all bad news

When it comes to countries spending money on Australian wine, the United States is our third-largest customer. So what will the new tariff announcements mean for the local industry?

Trump’s long-anticipated “Liberation Day” has sent shockwaves through global markets. A baseline minimum tariff rate of 10 per cent has been introduced for all countries – except for Canada and Mexico, who were affected by previous announcements.

Michelle Geber senses potential opportunity for Australian growers.Credit: Janie Barrett

Michelle Geber, managing director of family-owned winery Chateau Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, says that although the tariffs will have an impact on Australian winemakers, the April 4 announcement was “better than anticipated”.

The largest wine exporters to the US – France and Italy – are set to face tariffs that are double those of Australia. So Geber says the introduction of tariffs may even bring an opportunity for the Australian wine industry.

“There are other countries who have received higher tariffs. And their prices are going to be driven up further on the shelf … Australia might be another option because it’s not affected as greatly,” she says. “There could be an opportunity … to gain greater favour in the countries who have fallen out with the US.”

Chateau Tanunda and other premium wine producers are also in a unique position. It means that tariff increases may not be entirely absorbed by the consumer, but also shared between importers, distributors and retailers. Cheaper sellers might not have this level of flexibility.

“There will be Australian wineries who operate in the commercial segment, where a consumer is far more price sensitive. [These wineries] will take potentially a greater hit,” Geber says. “There’s less room to play in [commercial] pricing.”

Treasury Wine Estates, another Australian winemaker, says that the blanket 10 per cent tariff imposed on Australian products was unlikely to have a big impact on its business.

Treasury’s American division provides about 36 per cent of the group’s earnings but, importantly, about 85 per cent of the wine it sells in the US is produced there.

Most of those wines are sold under its luxury labels, DAOU, Frank Family Vineyards, Stags’ Leap, Beringer and Beaulieu vineyards. The remaining 15 per cent of US sales is bulk-imported and bottled and sold under the 19 Crimes and Matua labels.

Treasury Wines boss Tim Ford.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

“Treasury does not anticipate these measures to have a material impact on its business,” the company said in an ASX statement.

The Australian market is better positioned than its European counterpart, which is facing higher tariffs. Geber says that some Canadian winemakers have even discussed pulling American bottles from store shelves. The situation is reminiscent of the recent tariffs that China imposed on Australian wines.

“We’ve sort have been through this … [but] these 10 per cent tariffs are nowhere near as damaging as the recent experience we’ve just been through with China,” Geber says.

“America is the third-largest country for exports for Australian wine. But if you put it in perspective, China are three to four times the value of America,” she says. Wine Australia estimate that Mainland China spent $907 million on Australian wine in 2025, compared to America’s $325 million.

As for the impacts that these announcements might have on the domestic market? Geber says that “Liberation Day” has highlighted the necessity for a traditionally slow industry to be receptive and adaptive.

“It takes years to produce a bottle of wine. And it takes years to grow vineyards … the wine industry, given its agricultural nature and the way that wine is crafted, is not a fleet-footed and nimble industry,” she says.

“However, the lessons of the last eight years in business in general have taught all of us that new and different environments are occurring quite rapidly … it must be at the top of company strategy to be nimble, flexible and react quickly.”

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