Despite looming higher tariffs, U.S. wine exports to China increased by 14% in value for the first half of this year, compared with the same time last year, according to the San Francisco-based industry advocacy group Wednesday.
The value of exports to eastern markets was $38.4 million (from January to June), an increase of 2.7% over the same period last year.
The overall volume of exports in the first half of the year was up 1.7%, totaling 804,551 9-liter standard cases. At the same time, exports to China increased more slowly, up by 1.04%.
Total U.S. wine exports to China for all of last year was $78.7 million, down 3.45% from 2016, and amounted to 1.65 million cases, down by 4.51%. China, including Hong Kong, was the third largest market for U.S. wine exports last year by value and volume, after the European Union and Canada.
