Yesterday, President Trump announced tariffs on French wine imports into the USA as a reciprocal tax because France imposed a 3% levy on tech companies who offer digital services. Some of the big tech giants in USA will be required to comply with the new tax in France. However, trump stated the tax on french wine would be reciprocal, meaning it should be 3%. Some people are calling it the google tax.
Fine wines are in a price bracket that are not for every wine drinker. If a consumer can afford to pay 1000 dollars for a bottle of wine, it is unlikely they will care to notice a price increase of 3%. When selecting a fine wine to drink and paying 1000 dollars for a bottle of wine, am I really going to be concerned if it’s 30 dollars more? Am I really analyzing the price before I buy a bottle of wine at this level of quality and price range? If I am so price sensitive paying 1000 dollars for a bottle of wine, then I probably shouldn’t be ordering it in the first place.
The USA is a large consumer of wine at all price points, nevertheless even French wine sales at the lower price point will not be affected. Even where a consumer is price conscious, paying 10 or 10.30 dollars for a bottle is unlikely to affect a consumers decision. 30 cents on every 10 dollars is not going to make a whole lot of difference in my opinion.
Back in 2018, when we were setting up our new office in California, I wrote to the U.S tax office and asked them about charging tax on fine wine Investment. They replied to us, stating that we did not need to add tax when selling fine wine in the USA because the wines are not imported into the USA. This was quite important to us, as you know I’m always monitoring the cost of entry to ensure you are buying low and selling high.
In summary, i’m not concerned that prices will go down on the back of a 3% levy on French wines, because when you invest into a wine it is tax free anyway!
Keep it in Bond and sell it in Bond to ensure there is no duty or taxes to pay when buying or selling. I am more concerned that the stock market keeps rising which affected prices in the last few months.
As mentioned in our previous updates, if the stock market sees a correction, that is overdue, (in my humble analysis) then we should see wine prices sky rocket.
Don’t hesitate, buy low now and sell high when prices go up!
