MW This American winemaker doesn't like Trump's tariffs - but its stock is climbing

By Tomi Kilgore

Investors appear to believe Trump's threat of 200% tariffs on European alcohol will help sales of wine produced in the U.S.

President Trump said the 200% tariff he's threatening to place on alcohol imported from the European Union "will be great" for wine businesses in the U.S. - but not if you ask an actual American winemaker.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social social-media platform that the planned tariffs are retaliation for the E.U. placing a 50% tariff on U.S.-made whiskey, which in turn was retaliation for tariffs Trump placed on some E.U. products.

Read: The alcohol trade war has broken out and is coming for your glass of wine

Don't miss: Tracking Trump's tariffs: What he's proposed, when they hit and what could get more expensive

Wall Street seems to agree with Trump, as shares of Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. $(WVVI)$ climbed 2.2% in afternoon trading Thursday to buck the selloff in the broader stock market.

The Oregon-based wine producer's stock has soared 82.6% this year. The company lost its biggest public competition last year, as Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Vintage Wine Estates Inc. filed for bankruptcy in July and Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. was taken private in December.

Yet Willamette Valley Vineyards founder and President Jim Bernau doesn't agree with Trump, or Wall Street.

"President Trump's approach, erratically threatening and then using tariffs, has resulted in the loss of foreign markets for Oregon wines due to both supply-chain and consumer boycotts," Bernau said in an emailed statement to MarketWatch.

"For our U.S. markets, his approach is creating uncertainty. Consumers and the trade are becoming cautious, reducing purchasing and inventories," Bernau added.

In general, Wall Street doesn't seem to be a fan of the tariff-induced trade war, as expected higher prices are seen as hurting consumers that were already struggling from persistent inflation. The stock market has been hit hard in recent weeks amid fears that a drop in consumer spending, which makes up nearly 70% of the U.S. economy, could tip the economy into a recession.

Read more: Treasury Secretary Bessent says he's not concerned about the current stock market volatility.

The way Bernau explained it, wine distributors, retailers and restaurants were part of a "stable, predictable ecosystem" where products favored by consumers, including imported wine, helped spread out the fixed costs for the industry. That, in turn, helped increase profitability for both his and others' businesses.

Bernau said the uncertainty created by Trump's tariff war has destabilized the industry and consequently eaten away at the profits of those the tariffs were meant to protect.

Elsewhere on the market Thursday, shares of Constellation Brands Inc. $(STZ)$ - which owns U.S.-made wine brands including Robert Mondavi, Meiomi and the Prisoner - fell 0.9%. Meanwhile, shares of Brown-Forman Corp. $(BF.B)$, which produces the "California Champagne" Korbel, advanced 1.1%.

-Tomi Kilgore

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2025 14:06 ET (18:06 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.