Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
Trump’s tariff policy leaves its mark on the Canary Islands
Donald Trump’s tariff policy is beginning to leave its mark on the Canary Islands. Wine exports from the archipelago to the United States have fallen sharply in a market that until now was key for the product, highly valued for its distinctiveness and its consumer profile. According to data from the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), the region’s wine sector saw its turnover from sales to the United States drop by 37% in 2025, while so far in 2026 there are signs of a slight improvement that is still insufficient to offset last year’s blow. All of this comes against a backdrop marked by the tightening of US tariffs and by the need for Canarian producers to find new destinations for their goods.
A market that was growing has stalled
The decline in exports comes after the United States steadily hardened its trade policy following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. In April 2025, the US administration imposed a universal 10% tariff and, at the end of July, Washington and the European Union agreed a general maximum rate of 15%, which began to be applied in mid-August, with exemptions limited to certain strategic products. That is why “a market that was growing for the islands’ wines has stalled its evolution”, says Jonatan García, winemaker at the Suertes del Marqués winery in the Valle de La Orotava, in Tenerife.
The average tariff rate applied by the United States to agricultural imports has thus risen from less than 4% to more than 16%, reaching its highest level since 1930. This represents an additional barrier for products such as Canarian wine, which already faces the extra costs derived from producing and exporting from an outermost territory such as the archipelago.
A niche product with its own identity
Yet it is precisely its strategic position between Europe, Africa and the Americas, combined with its island isolation, that has helped to make its wine offering unique. That combination of history, native varieties and distinctive growing conditions has turned Canarian wine into a niche product, aimed mainly “at an international consumer with relatively high purchasing power, willing to pay more for exclusive references with an identity of their own”, García stresses. Indeed, a bottle that Jonatan García sells in the islands for 12 euros can reach a price of close to 24 euros in the United States — practically double.
Diversification as a buffer against the tariff crisis
However, the tariff crisis has not translated into major losses in his case, thanks to a strategy based on international diversification. “We are present in more than 40 countries so as not to depend on a single destination and to prevent problems such as tariffs or economic crises from having a greater impact,” the winemaker explains. Those wineries with a greater dependence on the US market have had to reduce or abandon their exports to the country and focus their sales on other destinations.
Along these lines, Theo Hernando, general secretary of the Association of Farmers and Livestock Breeders of the Canary Islands (Asaga), insists that the Canary Islands is already working on finding new markets such as Japan or China, although he warns that both countries are also facing a reduction in alcohol consumption per person.
The United States accounted for almost a third of exports outside the EU
Until now, the United States accounted for almost a third of Canarian wine sales outside the European Union: in 2023 it received 102,900 litres, 32% of exports of Canarian wines with Protected Designation of Origin to third countries. But after coming close to one million euros in overseas sales in 2024 (including all exports of wine products: reds, whites and others), turnover fell by that 37% in 2025, dropping below 600,000 euros. Nevertheless, the first data for 2026 point to a slight recovery, with growth of 2.6% up to June.
A partial picture that should be read with caution
That percentage, however, should be read with caution. On the one hand, the year is not yet over and the available data only cover up to June. On the other, the variations are calculated against the same period in 2025, so they still offer only a partial snapshot. It will be the close of 2026 that will allow a clearer measurement of the knock-on effect of decisions that begin at the White House and reach the wineries of the islands.
Moreover, comparing the aggregate figure — that is, total exports — can lead to a mistaken interpretation. Although overseas sales increased in the previous financial year — coinciding with an international context marked by the tightening of tariffs — that increase does not reflect a generalised improvement in sales. The upturn was driven by a one-off export operation of aeronautical material, which exceptionally raised the total volume and distorts any reading of the real evolution of the archipelago’s foreign trade.
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