US tariffs on empty bottles

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has accused glass wine bottle producers from China, Chile, and Mexico of selling their products in the US at unfairly low prices, which could significantly impact the price of wine in the country.

China, a major supplier of wine bottles to the US, faces preliminary dumping duties ranging from 21.77% to 218.15%, affecting more than a dozen manufacturers. Chilean producers are looking at tariffs between 6.64% and 173.91%, while Mexican companies could see duties from 14.96% to as high as 96.95%.

The DoC's investigation began in response to a petition from the US Glass Producers Coalition, which alleges that Chinese producers receive government subsidies, giving them an unfair advantage in the US market. This led to proposed countervailing duties of up to 202.70% on non-cooperative Chinese manufacturers.

These tariffs are expected to drive up the cost of empty wine bottles, which currently range from $0.50 to $1.00 each for large purchasers. Higher costs for imported bottles will likely lead to increased production expenses for US wineries, many of which rely on Chinese imports. As a result, the price of a typical bottle of wine could rise, as wineries switch to US suppliers and those with lower tariffs.