Latest news with #AnsleyWineMerchants
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon says it's now likely Trump tariffs will spark recession
JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon says it's now likely Trump tariffs will spark recession Show Caption Hide Caption Atlanta wine store owner braces for Trump tariffs Adam Williams, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, Georgia said, 'A 20 percent increase on European wines is huge, because European wines are about 80 or so percent of the wine in the store." JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday said President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will likely lead to defaults by borrowers and a recession. 'So long as you have rate going up…inflation is sticky and credit spreads are gapping out, which they're going to, I think you'll see more credit problems,' Dimon told Fox Business' Mornings with Maria. What happens in a recession? Informally, a recession is considered at least two straight quarters of declining economic output. But the technical definition is 'a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months,' according to the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research. The measure is based on employment, income, consumer spending and industrial production, among other criteria. An economic slump is generally accompanied by hundreds of thousands or millions of net job losses and rising unemployment. Many forecasters believe a recession lies ahead because businesses socked with hefty tariffs on imported goods will likely pass all or much of the costs along to consumers, sapping their purchasing power and leading them to cut spending. Consumption makes up about 70% of economic activity. Such a spending pullback is also likely to dampen company sales, Dimon suggested, causing some firms to fail to make debt payments and default on loans. What's the latest in the trade war? In the latest tariff development, China on Wednesday said it will lash back at Trump's outsized import fees by slapping U.S. goods with 84% tariffs starting Wednesday, up from the 34% duty it previously announced, the finance ministry said. 'If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,' the Ministry of Commerce wrote in a document released Wednesday. Trump previously bumped up the U.S. tariff on Chinese shipments to 104% after China responded to Trump's own 34% reciprocal tariff with its own similar fee. Trump's reciprocal tariffs, theoretically aimed at matching the fees other countries charge for U.S. shipments to their countries, included a minimum 10% fee and additional charges of up to 50% on more than 50 nations. Those took effect Wednesday. The president already had imposed a 20% fee on China; 25% on imported steel and aluminum; 25% on all imported cars and light trucks; and 25% on some goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by a trade agreement.
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Imported wine prices set to surge as new Trump tariffs shake up small businesses
Imported wine prices set to surge as new Trump tariffs shake up small businesses Show Caption Hide Caption Atlanta wine store owner braces for Trump tariffs Adam Williams, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, Georgia said, 'A 20 percent increase on European wines is huge, because European wines are about 80 or so percent of the wine in the store." Adam Williams, 57, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, said he was bracing for the worst on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump's tariffs are set to kick in, which will spike costs of the imported wines and liquors he sells. "That means everything will go up," he said, including the customer favorite, a 2023 vintage Sancerre from France which can cost $45. The Trump Administration has said it will institute a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, which would cause the price of a bottle of wine to surge past what a casual customer would pay. Tariffs hit small business: Kentucky's $9 billion bourbon industry caught in the crossfire of Trump trade war Other wine merchants are worried too. The National Association of Wine Retailers in a statement released over the weekend said it expected "significant revenue reductions, layoffs, and business closings." The U.S. imports more wine from the European Union than any other part of the world, led by France and Italy. Sales of French wine and spirits could drop by at least 20% when the tariffs go into place, the French wine and spirits exporters FEVS said last week. The National Association of Wine Retailers, a U.S. trade group, said any hope for tariffs spurring sales of domestic wines "is misplaced. When faced with the higher prices that will result from the across-the-board tariffs, consumers will rein in their spending. The first thing they cut back on is non-essential items like wine." Williams has 1,500 different labels and has tasted them all, and most of his stock comes from overseas. "I haven't started losing sleep yet, but maybe I should be already," Williams said. "I just don't know how bad this is going to be, but 90 percent of my labels are from overseas, France, Italy. All from small family-owned vineyards. Small producers. Not the mass-produced grocery store wines." He said there have been hardly any new shipments from overseas because distributors and importers are in "wait-and-see" mode. If the tariffs hit like he thinks, he said, "I'm not sure what will happen. I have eight employees who are like family. I have to look out for them. But what's going to happen here, I don't know." "But I won't sell mass-produced wine," he said. "The bottom line is, prices are going up," said Ryan Stanton, general manager of a mid-sized wine importing company, Ultimate Wine Distributors, based in Atlanta. "Buy America is great in theory, but there are a lot of things that we don't and can't make in America," he said. "We have a lot of wine ready to set sail in France, but it's just parked there as everyone waits to see what happens. It's in negotiations. We're waiting for the dust to settle," he said. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by David Gregorio
