The Impressive Strategy 1 NYC Wine Shop Is Using to Beat Soaring Import Tariffs

Importers are getting hit by tariffs. But what if they didn’t have to bring the wine into the country?

BY AMAYA NICHOLE, NEWS WRITER

Amidst the tariff-related price increases, some U.S. wine businesses are switching to ​domestic alternatives. Some are sourcing ⁠cheaper imported brands as tariff-related price hikes gather pace. One NYC wine retailer is going straight to the competition for stock.

Known for “curating benchmark bottlings from classic growing regions alongside hidden gems from progressive natural winemakers,” Clinton Hill’s Chris Leon of Leon and Sons quickly became a community staple after opening its doors in 2015.

“Even in a wine-saturated yuppie burg like Brooklyn, Chris Leon’s little Clinton Hill shop stands out for its deep catalog of small, ambitious American producers (plus plenty from France and Italy) at fair prices,” GQ published in their article “The 20 New Rules of Drinking (and Buying) Wine.”

Despite their success, the winery has struggled against the recent onslaught of tariffs as 90 percent of Leon’s revenue comes from imported wines. European wines were entering the U.S. under a 15 percent levy following an EU-U.S. trade deal implemented in August.

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A suite of Trump’s tariffs, including those targeting Europe, were briefly overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in February, but new levies quickly took their place, with European goods facing a minimum 10 percent rate.

Although Trump has threatened to increase the tariffs to 200 percent, he has maintained that the tariffs are a necessary step in correcting the deep trade deficits the U.S. carries with many of its partners.

Faced with an already struggling market, many American businesses have decided to absorb tariff costs rather than passing them along to consumers and accepting thinner margins in the process. 

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