2026 Top 100 Importers & Exporters

US alcohol importers managing shifting consumption habits

By Michael Angell

US alcoholic beverage importers are still trying to find their right supply-and-demand balance after another volatile year for wine and spirits shipments amid shifting tastes among US drinkers.

Containerized imports of wine, beer and distilled spirits fell 4.9 % in 2025 and another 16.1 % in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global.

Last year’ s drop continued an uneven trajectory for alcoholic beverage imports. US inbound shipments hit a peak of 468,465 TEUs in 2022. After that, imports dropped 18 % in 2023, followed by a 13.5 % rebound in 2024.

Allison Leavitt, managing director of the Wine and Spirits Shippers Association, said last year’ s import numbers were affected by frontloading ahead of the Trump administration’ s various tariff moves and the subsequent gap in later shipments.

“ There was a push at the beginning of 2025 to get products in prior to the tariffs, and this did create lower volumes in subsequent months, with some importers putting a stop to imports when tariffs were first announced,” Leavitt said.

But alcoholic beverage shippers are also still figuring out the right level of inventory to hold. The popularity of drinking at home during the COVID-19 pandemic led the industry to estimate stronger growth than what materialized afterward, she said.

The alcoholic beverage industry itself is going through changes that are also roiling demand forecasts. A growing number of people are drinking less than they were during the pandemic. Changing tastes among young drinkers who prefer pre-packaged, ready-to-drink cocktails or malt beverages are another headwind for imports of individually bottled wines and spirits.

“ There’ s a huge amount of inventory we are still working through,” Leavitt said, adding that“ there’ s a little bit of a kickback in consumption from wellness trends.”

Shift in shipping methods

Imports from France, the second-largest source of US wine and spirits imports behind Italy, have fallen 23.7 % since 2022. Along with lower demand, Leavitt said some of the volume decline also stems from different shipping methods.

Instead of shipping individual bottles, US wine shippers are increasingly using tanks and totes to import thousands of liters of bulk wine that can be bottled domestically. Leavitt expects this trend to continue as major retailers such as Costco and Aldi offer more private label wines at lower price points than estate-bottled wines.

Spirits sourcing unchanged amid tariffs, consumption shifts

Percentage share of US alcoholic beverage imports by origin

TEU market share

Alcoholic beverage imports decline for 11 straight months

Containerized US alcohol drink imports, in laden TEUs, with year-over-year change

TEU volume

100 %

78 80 %

100 60 %

40 %

20 %

0 % L 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Italy France Netherlands United Kingdom Mexico Other

Source: PIERS, S & P Global

50,000

40,000

10,000

Source: PIERS, S & P Global

40 % 30 % 20 %

-10 %-20 %

TEU Year-over-year % change

Alcoholic beverages

IMPORTS

414,563 TEUS

↓4.9 %

Change from 2024

↓1.9 %

5-year compound annual growth rate

© 2026 S & P Global

Year-over-year % change

© 2026 S & P Global

L

40 Journal of Commerce | May 4, 2026 www. joc. com