U.S. President Donald Trump has not been the best friend of American wine producers. Since he started talking about tariffs last spring, sales at Systembolaget have plummeted. Swedes largely abandoned U.S.-made wines in a sort of boycott. In the first half of 2025, the decline was 17 percent.
For the full year 2025, the decline was 23 percent compared with 2024, according to Ulf Sjödin.
"A small additional percentage was added during the autumn," he says.
More threats
During January, Trump's Greenland threat gained extra momentum. Without reliable figures, Sjödin assesses that the decline has remained at least at the same level as before.
Before the decline last year, American wines accounted for around 6 percent of Swedes' total wine purchases. This has therefore fallen significantly, and Swedes are instead looking more toward European wine sellers, among others.
"It's distributed fairly evenly. No country of origin seems to be benefiting immediately from this," says Sjödin.
Also beer and spirits
American beer and spirits are not normally big sellers in Sweden. But purchases have fallen there as well. Sales of American beer at Systembolaget have dropped by 13 percent, although the trend has been downward for a long period.
"The U.S. was a bit of a pioneer in craft beer. Now much of that role has been taken over by Swedish breweries," says Ulf Sjödin.
In general, sales of alcoholic beverages are declining, according to Systembolaget's new annual statistics.
Is it a trend?
"Absolutely. We see that in several markets," he says.
