Good news for wine lovers. Today the US and the EU agreed to suspend wine tariffs for five years. This is due to the resolution of a 17-year-old Airbus/Boeing dispute that was settled at a Brussels summit where US President Joe Biden met with EU leaders.

For years, disputes over government subsidies given to Boeing and Airbus had led to steep tariffs to the tune of 7.5 billion dollars of United States tariffs on European goods and 4 billion dollars tariffs on American goods by the EU Wine tariffs were temporarily suspended in March this year for a four-month trial period. Today's new agreement will come into force next month and continue until 2026.

The pain of the 25% tariff has taken its toll on all sides, with depressed sales trickling down to the winegrowers and spirit distillers themselves. Wines from France, Spain, Germany and England were hit in particular as they bore the brunt of the tariffs. This new agreement will offer some solace and hopefully relieve the depressed sales of goods due to the inflated rates. In addition to this, there is hope that rebuilding the alliance will lead to settlement of other trade issues.

Were there particular wines you wanted but were concerned about shipping and tariffs? There's now no need to worry. With tariffs suspended for the long-term, you can browse at your leisure and ship the wines you want, when you want. We'll drink to that.