Protectionism in the Wine Industry: France & California

This study is about the connection between the wine industry and government. The hypothesis is : The French Government has shielded and potentially harmed its wine industry as a result of subsidies and regulations, directly and indirectly, that are disproportionate in their impact to those provided to the California wine industry, in an effort to ward off competition. The purpose of this document is to decide whether or not France does in fact protect its wine industry to a greater extent than the United States protects the California wine industry. As I conducted my research I realized that there are variables that have the potential to impact the wine industry on a protectionist level, whether they be direct or indirect. Such variables are 1) Government Intervention (direct); 2) Regulations: appellations (indirect), advertising (indirect), taxes (direct), interstate shipping (USA-direct), and seasonal labor (indirect); and 3) EU-US Wine Accord (direct)