France's FEVS wine and spirits lobby says U.S. tariffs pause is "half good news"

By Sybille de La Hamaide

PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - The head of the French wine and spirits lobby group FEVS said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pause most tariffs was "half good news" for the sector.

Nicolas Ozanam told Reuters the move will initially enable French wine and spirits companies to resume shipments at 10% custom duties instead of 20%, and therefore at the same level as all other suppliers.

"The real constraint is logistics. We have a 90-day window, and there are clearly people who will want to anticipate and stock up over there to be able to react more quickly," he said.

He added that given how 10% custom duties remained in place, the sector still faced inflationary pressures.

"In a rather inflationary context, and with a sliding dollar, this will still lead to a rise in prices and therefore a drop in consumption in the United States," he said.