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Wine sellers struggling to survive the pandemic are now also getting slammed by Uncle Sams fight with the European Union over aircraft subsidies.

Mom-and-pop wine importers are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in added expenses this year due to ever-increasingUS tariffs slapped on winesimported from Europe. Its forcing these businesses to cut pay and staff and raise prices on customers.

This is going to put some people out of business for sure, said David Bowler, owner of Bowler Wine of Manhattan, an importer and distributor. Its like getting kicked when youre already down.WINE SALES EXPLODE DURING CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINESThe family-owned company was forced to pay $28,000 in tariffs earlier this month, or $16,000 more than it would have paid had two shipments from Europe arrived when they were supposed to on Jan. 11.

The slight delay of the 1,987 cases containing 23,844 bottles from mostly France to New York City were immediately subject to tariffs that became effective on Jan. 12 despite the fact that the wines were ordered and shipped before the tariffs were put in place.

Wine sellers struggling to survive the pandemic are now also getting slammed by Uncle Sams fight with the European Union over aircraft subsidies. (iStock) (iStock)

Overnight a $12,000 bill turned into $28,000, Bowler lamented.

The money grab kicked off in October 2019, when the Office of the US Trade Representative slapped a 25 percent tax on certain wines imported from France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. The tariffs covered wines with less than 14 percent alcohol, including many Ross, Sancerres and Rieslings.

Things got worse on Dec. 30 when the USTR extended the tariffs to cover wines containing more than 14 percent alcohol delivering a crushing blow to the industry.

US importers, who had never paid anything more than pennies on the bottle in import duties are now forking out 25 percent taxes on some of the wines they import from the UK, Spain and on all of the wines they import from Germany and France, which is arguably the most important wine exporter in the world.

Premium cognacs that cost $38 or more per liter were also added to the latest round of costly import taxes.

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Bowlers company, which employs 37 people including his wife and two sons, took a 10 percent hit in revenues in 2020 only the second decline in its 17 years in business, he said.

Bowler already cut his and his wifes salaries by 20 percent and senior executives pay by 10 percent. The sales reps, whose commissions plummeted last year due to restaurant closures, were paid 90 percent of their 2019 income with the help of a Payroll Protection Program loan, Bowler said.

We were expecting to be up by five percent last year before the tariffs, he said.

Manhattan-based Vintus Wines, a family-owned importer and distributor to restaurants and wine stores, is facing an eye-popping $540,000 tax bill for orders scheduled to arrive in just the first two months of the year.

And thats on top of the extra $1.8 million in tariffs Vintus paid over the past 14 months during the first round of taxes, President Alexander Michas told The Post.

Its so frustrating, Michas said. We feel like we have no control over our business.

The tariffs are meant to pressure the EU over its subsidies to Airbus, which competes with US-based Boeing and which is politically backed by France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

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But American wine importers say they are the ones being punished instead.

We werent the point of the argument, Michas said. Weve just been dragged along and everyone feels sorry for us.

To afford the extra cash outlay, Vintus has eliminated its marketing expenses, and it will not fill three new positions it had hoped to add to the family-owned business early this year.

They are kicking US businesses in the gut in the middle of a pandemic, added Ben Aneff, president of the US Wine Trade Alliance.

Aneff, who is appealing to the Biden administration to lower the tariffs, says Bordeaux labels, which generally have a higher alcohol content, are going to be hit particularly hard.

The honeymoon is over for Bordeaux, sad Aneff, adding that Bordeaux from Frances Right Bank region and wines from its Rhone Valley will now see a spike in prices.

Its not just Bordeaux. A Karine Lauverjat Sancerre that sells for about $22 at retail will soon go up to about $28, according to Bowler, which might dissuade some consumers from purchasing it. Still, demand for less expensive wines from other parts of the world or even for American wines has not increased, say importers.

If someone wants a Sancerre, thats what they want, Bowler said. Wine is not one of these things that people are willing to compromise on. This is especially true for restaurants, which like to hold a robust selection of French wines, Michas said. They need to have products that consumers know and trust, he added.

Consumers who pay on average $15 for a bottle are paying closer to $20 now or a $15 glass of Sancerre at a restaurant is likely $17 now, Michas said.

Among the wines Vintas is receiving this month and next are those from E. Guigal of the Rhone Valley, which range in price from less than $20 a bottle to hundreds of dollars.

A 2018 vintage of Chateau Troplong Mondot of the Right Bank, which sells for about $110 a bottle, will soon cost about $140 as they reach retailers, Daniel Posner owner of Grapes The Wine Co. in White Plains, NY, told The Post.

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Even though 50 percent of his sales are French wines, Posner is holding back on bringing in some of these tariffed wines.

Posner scaled back on the number of Sancerre labels he carries from 10 to four and on everyday wines from the Cotes du Rhone region that might have cost $12, but now $15 due to the tariff.

One of his wealthy customers recently asked for a case of 2018 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which typically goes for about $1,000 a bottle, but now itll cost $1,250 a bottle, Posner said.

I dont want my customers to pay $3,000 in tariffs, so I asked him to wait at least until the fall, when the tariff will be re-evaluated, Posner said, referring to the cost of the tariffs on a case of 12 bottles.

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US fight with European Union having unexpected affect on mom-and-pop liquor stores - Fox Business

Greece is in favor of maintaining communication and dialogue channels between the European Union and Russia, said the representative of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexandros Papaioannou.

First of all, I would like to emphasise that we are talking about relations between the European Union and Russia and not about bilateral relations between Greece and Russia. This is different, said Papaioannou.

His response was to a question about the position of Greece regarding sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea and whether Athens is expected to support these sanctions.

Greece believes that the European Union must maintain open channels of communication and dialogue with Russia because we have many common problems. Therefore, there must always be an open channel, he stressed.

According to him, it is not yet known whether the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be discussed.

I do not know at this time whether such a discussion will take place, said a spokesperson for the Greek Foreign Ministry.

There will be a wide-ranging discussion on EU-Russia relations, and in this context we are among the countries that emphasize that we must maintain the channels of communication and dialogue, they added.

READ MORE: Dendias to Lavrov: Russias role in the Greek Revolution was important.

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Greece Wants The European Union And Russia To Have Open Channels Of Communication: Foreign Ministry - Greek - GreekCityTimes.com

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election.

Museveni apparently sparked the EU backlash when he instructed the Ministry of Finance, in a letter dated January 1, to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility, a basket fund of European countries that bankroll most Ugandan civil society organizations that work on governance, rights and related themes.

The development is the latest in the fallout between the West and Uganda government that has seen President Museveni and a number of his senior officials castigating unnamed Western powers over what they call interference in the affairs of Uganda.

In a televised address about Ugandas security following several reports of operatives kidnapping citizens, especially opposition supporters, Museveni accused foreigners of interference in the countrys affairs.

"I read in the newspapers about the EU Parliament sanctioning some Ugandans from travelling. For anybody to think that Africans are dying to go to Europe is something that shows a lack of seriousness. Well, personally I need a lot of persuasion to leave Uganda. Why would I want to leave Uganda? he asked rhetorically.

On February 11, the European Parliament adopted a resolution deploring the January 14 elections which they called neither democratic nor transparent. They condemned the excessive use of force by the police and armed forces during the election and their growing interference in political affairs.

They called for all those arrested and detained for participating in peaceful political assemblies or for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association to be released immediately and unconditionally and have their charges dropped. The text was approved by 632 votes in favour, 15 against and 48 abstentions.

More than 50 people were killed in the melee that followed the arrest of presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, on Nov. 18, according to the State. Hundreds more were injured and thousands arrested during the elections.

The imposition of sanctions would be a major blow to Uganda government operations since the EU is Ugandas biggest development partner and gives more than US$130,000 in aid annually. The EU individual members also give substantial funding to Uganda.

Early this week, the United Kingdom also cut funding to security forces and also promised to review aid to Uganda over what they called human rights abuses. [IDN-InDepthNews 16 February 2021]

Photo: Security forces stand outside a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, on January 14, 2021. Source: The African Report.

IDN is flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate.

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This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to share, remix, tweak and build upon it non-commercially. Please give due credit.

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Ugandan Election Rights Violations Elicit Threat of European Union Sanctions - IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

On 15 January 2021, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2021/30[1] implementing Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP.

The Council added one person to the list of natural and legal persons, entities or bodies subject to restrictive measures in Annex I to Decision 2013/255/CFSP.

The Candidate Countries the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania[2], and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

[1] Published on 15.01.2021 in the Official Journal of the European Union no L 12 I, p.3.[2] The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain third countries concerning restrictive measures against Syria -...

The 21st of February marks UN International Mother Language Day: a day that aims to remind us of the importance of safeguarding linguistic diversity and recognises the value of multilingualism at all levels of contemporary global society. Nowhere is this more important than in the regulation of that global society. The intense progress of globalisation in the latter half of the 20th century has led to a rapid increase in the production of international treaties and agreements, the creation of international courts, as well as reliance on international arbitration. Multilingualism underpins much of this globalised legal work. Many international organisations have multiple official languages, and carry out their functions through multilingual legal and political institutions. But can an institution be truly multilingual? And what implications might multilingualism have on the work of such institutions?

The phenomenon of multilingual law is particularly evident in the context of the European Union (EU), which produces law in 24 languages, for application throughout 27 Member States. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) produces case law in all 24 EU official languages. It is, in that sense, a truly multilingual institution. However, in order for it to actually function and produce its multilingual case law, the CJEU uses a single internal working language: French.

Cases can be brought before the CJEU in any of the 24 EU official languages. The language chosen by the applicant or referring court will be the language of procedure for the case in question. Documents that are submitted to the CJEU are translated into French, and the case is processed entirely in French. The final judgment is drafted in French, deliberated upon in secret deliberations and the final (French) version is agreed by the judges in the relevant Chamber. That judgment is then translated into the language of procedure and the other EU official languages. The version of the judgment in the language of procedure is considered the authentic version of the judgment.

Translation is thus key to the functioning of the CJEU, and consequently to the administration of justice in the European Union. The CJEU uses a mixed translation system. Where possible direct translation, from one EU official language into another, is used. However, given the sheer number of direct language combinations (552), a pivot translation system is also used: i.e. translation is pivoted through a third language (e.g CzechEnglishSwedish). The CJEU currently uses five official pivot languages: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian).

While the importance of a formal translation process to the functioning of the CJEU is clear, translation at that court cannot be isolated to specific points in the procedure. Owing to the fact that the CJEU is a multilingual and multicultural institution, which uses a single internal language, translation is, in a broad sense, embedded throughout the process and indeed in the culture of that court. French is the working language of the Court. Yet, the staff within the CJEU is linguistically diverse. This means that judges and their legal clerks (known as rfrendaires) are often working in a language that is not their mother tongue. This necessarily has an impact on the work that they produce: CJEU judgments.

One implication of the multilingual nature of the CJEU involves the type of reasoning developed at that court. Empirical research has demonstrated that although they work in French, the thinking process behind that work, for many judges and rfrendaires, is done in their own mother tongue. Consequently the legal reasoning applied is a hybrid one: grounded in EU law of course, but based on the legal reasoning embedded in the national legal system(s), or the legal system(s) of the state(s) in which they received their legal education. Such legal reasoning and its associated concepts are developed through intellectual reasoning processes in a particular cultural context, and then expressed in a legal language that develops along with a particular legal order. It is almost impossible to separate a particular type of legal reasoning from the legal language in which that reasoning is embedded.

The CJEU is thus a linguistically hybrid institution. It is multilingual and multicultural, but operates by embracing a single working language internally, at least at surface level. In this manner, the CJEU functions by way of linguistic cultural compromises:

Whether or not an institution can be truly multilingual, it is important to acknowledge the impact that multilingualism has on the culture of such institutions. CJEU case law is infused with linguistic complexity; we need to take account of issues of language and multilingualism, if we we are to fully understand how it functions.

Read more information on Karen McAuliffe's research on multilingualism at the CJEU.

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Multilingualism in International Institutions: The Court of Justice of the European Union - University of Birmingham