In contrast to the livestock sectors in Argentina and Brazil, European viticulture, and particularly French viticulture, aims to diversify its markets in a context of downward pressure on domestic consumption and increased tariff tensions in the United States. In France, the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters (FEVS) expressed great interest in a treaty that aims to reduce import duties to 0 %, which currently range between 17 % and 35 % for Mercosur countries.
One of the sensitive points for wine is the protection of geographical indications. In fact, the agreement contemplates prohibiting designations such as "Champagne" on any Latin American sparkling wines that seek to capitalize on the prestige of these designations of origin. For the French division, the main focus within Mercosur is Brazil, a country that produces relatively little wine, but is experiencing strong growth in consumption and is consolidating itself as an importing market, although still far from the volumes consumed by the United States, the main destination for its wines with 3.8 billion euros in sales in 2024 compared to just 70 million in all of Mercosur.
