Faced with Trump's new tariff, French wine producers expect rough times ahead

CHABLIS, France (AP) — France’s wine producers are deeply concerned that the 20% tariff slapped by President Donald Trump will deal a severe blow to the sector that relies on the U.S. as its top market.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned of “massive” impact as he met with representatives of the most affected industries, including wine and spirits.

Vincent Dampt, owner of a wine domain in Chablis, in the Burgundy region, called the tariffs “bad news."

“But it could be worse,” Dampt added. “I was really stressed with the possibility of having this 200% tariff.”

Trump had threatened last month a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the EU went forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.

Dampt suggested he preferred a negotiated outcome between the EU and the U.S., saying a full on trade war is bad for business.

“We’re not at school,” he said. “If you answer too quickly with the same violence, it’s not constructive.”

A third generation winemaker, Dampt ships about 30% of his production to the U.S. — roughly 25,000 bottles. A drop in sales there would severely impact his business.

Chablis white wine was also the target of tariffs under the first Trump administration at the height of the spat between aviation giants Boeing and Airbus.

There's only one way for Dampt to fight back and maintain a presence in the U.S.: bring down his prices and cut his profit. But he said "it's not an easy thing to do" especially now when he had already lost about 50% of his crop last year, mostly due to hail storms and killer frost.

The Bourgogne Wine Board said in a statement it expects the industry to be “heavily affected” because the U.S. is the leading export market of wines from Burgundy.

“While this new measure will affect exports, potentially costing Bourgogne wines up to 100 million euros, it will not bring trade to a sudden halt, as would have been the case with higher tariffs," the trade association noted.

The U.S. remained last year the largest export market for wines produced in the EU, with 4.88 billion euros ($5.36 billion), the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (European Committee of Wine Businesses), or CEEV, said in a statement. Exports to the U.S. accounted for 28% of the EU’s total wine export value, it said.

The new tariff would create "economic uncertainty and result in layoffs, deferred investments and price increases,” said Marzia Varvaglione, CEEV president. “There is no alternative wine market that could compensate the loss of the U.S. market."

Macron denounced the tariffs as "brutal and unfounded.” In addition to the wine industry, the meeting at the Elysee palace gathered representatives from aeronautics, chemical and metal sectors, electronics, health, luxury, cosmetics and food industry.

Macron said France is likely to be slightly less impacted than some of its neighbours, because exports to the U.S. represent 1.5% of France's GDP, while they represent over 3% for Italy and 4% for Germany. Yet, “it’s not a small thing,” Macron said.

He emphasized that the U.S. economy will first experience the negative impact of the tariffs.

“One thing is certain, with that decision, the U.S. economy and Americans, businesses and citizens, will emerge weaker and poorer than yesterday,” Macron said.

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A glass of Chablis wine is seen in the office of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A tractor driving through the Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A tractor driving through the Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A view of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Winegrower Vincent Dampt talks to the Associated Press, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Winegrower Vincent Dampt serves a glass of Chablis wine in his office, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. House on Thursday approved legislation requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for anyone registering to vote, something voting rights group have warned could disenfranchise millions of Americans.

The requirement has been a top election-related priority for President Donald Trump and House Republicans, who argue it's needed to eliminate instances of noncitizen voting, which is already rare and, as numerous state cases have shown, is typically a mistake rather than part of a coordinated attempt to subvert an election. It's already illegal under federal law for people who are not U.S. citizens to cast ballots and can lead to felony charges and deportation.

The bill, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain because Republicans don't have a large enough majority to avoid a filibuster.

Here’s a look at key issues in the debate over a proof of citizenship requirement for voting:

If it eventually becomes the law, the SAVE Act would take effect immediately and apply to all voter registration applications.

“This has no impact on individuals that are currently registered to vote,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican who has been advocating for the bill.

Voting rights groups say there is more to the story. The law would affect voters who already are registered if they move, change their name or otherwise need to update their registration. That was acknowledged to some extent by the bill’s author, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, during a recent hearing on the legislation.

“The idea here is that for individuals to be able to continue to vote if they are registered,” Roy said. “If they have an intervening event or if the states want to clean the rolls, people would come forward to register to demonstrate their citizenship so we could convert our system over some reasonable time to a citizenship-based registration system.”

The SAVE Act compels states to reject any voter registration application in which the applicant has not presented “documentary proof of United States citizenship."

Among the acceptable documents for demonstrating proof of citizenship are:

— A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license that “indicates the applicant is a citizen.”

— A valid U.S. passport.

— A military ID card with a military record of service that lists the applicant’s birthplace as in the U.S.

— A valid government-issued photo ID that shows the applicant’s birthplace was in the U.S.

— A valid government-issued photo ID presented with a document such as a certified birth certificate that shows the birthplace was in the U.S.

In general, driver’s licenses do not list a birthplace or indicate that the card holder is a citizen – even many that are REAL ID-compliant.

REAL ID was passed by Congress in 2005 to set minimum standards for IDs such as driver’s licenses and requires applicants to provide a Social Security number and demonstrate lawful status either as a citizen or legal resident.

After years of delays, any driver’s license used for identification to pass through airport security will have to be REAL ID-compliant beginning May 7. U.S. passports will still be acceptable.

Although states designate REAL ID compliance on driver’s licenses with a marking such as a gold or black star, that alone would not indicate U.S. citizenship. People who are legal residents but not citizens also can obtain a REAL ID.

States are currently not required to label IDs with a “citizen” mark, although a handful of states (Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington) offer a citizen-only REAL ID alternative that might meet SAVE Act requirements. Republicans say they hope more states will move in the direction of IDs that indicate citizenship.

“The structure is put in place now to -- I think there’s at least five states that do have the citizenship status as part of the REAL ID -- encourage more states to do so,” Roy said. “That would be part of the goal here.”

Adoption of REAL ID has been slow. As of January 2024, about 56% of driver’s licenses and IDs in the U.S. were REAL ID-compliant, according to data collected by the Department of Homeland Security.

Voting rights group say the list of documents doesn’t consider the realities facing millions of Americans who do not have easy access to their birth certificates and the roughly half who do not have a U.S. passport.

They also worry about additional hurdles for women whose birth certificates don’t match their current IDs because they changed their name after getting married. There were examples of this during local elections last month in New Hampshire, which recently implemented a proof of citizenship requirement for voting.

Republicans say there is a provision in the SAVE Act that directs states to develop a process for accepting supplemental documents such as a marriage certificate, which could establish the connection between a birth certificate and a government-issued ID.

They argue the process is similar to obtaining a U.S. passport or REAL ID-compliant driver’s license.

“We have mechanisms giving the state fairly significant deference to make determinations as to how to structure the situation where an individual does have a name change,” Roy said. “The process is specifically contemplated in this legislation.”

Democrats counter that the bill should have specified how this was to be done, rather than creating the potential to have 50 different rules.

The legislation says applicants who submit the federal voter registration form by mail must present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person to their local election office under a deadline set by their state.

Voting rights groups have noted this would be a huge barrier for people who live in more rural parts of the country, where the nearest election office might be hours away by car.

The SAVE Act directs states, in consultation with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, to ensure that “reasonable accommodations” are made to allow individuals with disabilities who submit the form to provide proof of citizenship to their election official.

The legislation also considers that some states permit same-day voter registration and says, in those cases, voters must present proof of citizenship at their polling location “not later than the date of the election.”

That would mean that people who do not have such proof with them would have to return with their documents before polls close to be registered and have their ballot counted.

It’s less clear what this means for those states that have online voter registration systems or automatic voter registration set up through their state’s motor vehicle agency. Democratic state election officials have raised concerns that the legislation means these processes would no longer be operational under the proposal.

The legislation says anyone registering through a state motor vehicle agency also is required to provide proof of citizenship. It directs the Election Assistance Commission to issue guidance to state election officials about implementing the law’s requirements.

Republicans say any instance of voting by noncitizens, no matter how rare, is unacceptable and undermines confidence in U.S. elections.

Democrats respond by saying that voting by noncitizens is already illegal in federal elections —those for president and Congress — and penalties can result in fines and deportation. They say Congress should be more focused on helping states improve their ability to identify and remove any noncitizens who might end up on voter lists instead of forcing everyone to prove citizenship beforehand.

A recent review in Michigan identified 15 people who appear to be noncitizens who voted in the 2024 general election, out of more than 5.7 million ballots cast in the state. Of those, 13 were referred to the attorney general for potential criminal charges. One involved a voter who has since died, and the final case remains under investigation.

“Our careful review confirms what we already knew – that this illegal activity is very rare,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement. “While we take all violations of election law very seriously, this tiny fraction of potential cases in Michigan and at the national level do not justify recent efforts to pass laws we know would block tens of thousands of Michigan citizens from voting in future elections."

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, walks outside of the closed-door House Republican Conference as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to fellow Republicans to push for a House-Senate compromise budget resolution to advance President Donald Trump's agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)