Title 19Customs DutiesRelease 119-73

§2801 Congressional findings and purposes

Title 19 › Chapter CHAPTER 16— - WINE TRADE › § 2801

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Lists five findings about U.S. wine and trade. It says foreign wines have easier entry into the U.S. market while U.S. wines face many trade barriers abroad. It says low prices and limited foreign access hurt U.S. winemakers, grape growers, and related businesses. It says other countries’ trade practices, high interest rates, and bad exchange rates make U.S. wine less competitive. It also says many big markets drink little wine but could buy more, and that U.S. wineries can export much more to create jobs and help the trade balance. Sets three goals. They are to give consumers more wine choices, to start an export-promotion program to build and keep foreign markets for U.S. wine, and to get better foreign market access by cutting tariffs and other trade barriers.

Full Legal Text

Title 19, §2801

Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Congress finds that—
(1)there is a substantial imbalance in international wine trade resulting, in part, from the relative accessibility enjoyed by foreign wines to the United States market while the United States wine industry faces restrictive tariff and nontariff barriers in virtually every existing or potential foreign market;
(2)the restricted access to foreign markets and the continued low prices for United States wine and grape products adversely affect the economic position of our Nation’s winemakers and grape growers, as well as all other domestic sectors that depend upon wine production;
(3)the competitive position of United States wine in international trade has been weakened by foreign trade practices, high domestic interest rates, and unfavorable foreign exchange rates;
(4)wine consumption per capita is very low in many major non-wine producing markets and the demand potential for United States wine is significant; and
(5)the United States winemaking industry has the capacity and the ability to export substantial volumes of wine and an increase in United States wine exports will create new jobs, improve this Nation’s balance of trade, and otherwise strengthen the national economy.
(b)The purposes of this chapter are—
(1)to provide wine consumers with the greatest possible choice of wines from wine-producing countries;
(2)to encourage the initiation of an export promotion program to develop, maintain, and expand foreign markets for United States wine; and
(3)to achieve greater access to foreign markets for United States wine and grape products through the reduction or elimination of tariff barriers and nontariff barriers to (or other distortions of) trade in wine.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 98–573, title IX, § 901, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3047, provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Wine Equity and Export Expansion Act of 1984’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

19 U.S.C. § 2801

Title 19Customs Duties

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73