(Yicai) April 25 -- American wines are disappearing from store shelves in China as a consequence of higher tariffs, with importers telling Yicai that they will not be reordering any more bottles from the United States once their existing stocks run dry.

“We won't restock after selling out our inventory,” said a salesperson at Songge Wine Industry, which distributes the well-known Mondavi label. The reason is that the price of American wines is simply too high as a result of new import taxes.

China imposed an additional minimum border tax of 125 percent on goods brought in from the US on April 10 in retaliation for the Trump administration’s so-called reciprocal tariffs. The previous tariff rate on American wines had been 54 percent, which could be cut to 29 percent if exclusion certificates were granted.

The new tariffs will greatly limit the acceptance and market share of American wines in China, said Yang Zhengjian, dean of the WBO Wine Business School.

The retail prices of US wines sold by some Chinese e-commerce platforms have not yet gone up, with the vendors telling Yicai that this is because the items went on sale before import taxes rose, and they are still awaiting notice on whether to adjust the prices.

American wines mainly target the mid- to high-end market in China, according to Yin Kai, founder of wine market consulting firm Shanghai Chaoyinhui. Though they cannot shake the dominance of high-end French labels, US wine imports into China have been relatively stable for a long time and they rank high among wine shipments, Yin added.

American wine shipments to China rose 1.4 percent last year to USD51.77 million, placing the US fifth, according to figures from the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce. The US was also one of the few countries to see the value of its wine imports rise amid falling consumption of the beverage in China.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting