BRUSSELS, July 31 (Reuters) - European wine and spirits

will face a 15% tariff when entering the U.S. from Aug 1, until

negotiators agree on a different deal in talks expected to

continue in the autumn, EU officials and diplomats said on

Thursday.

The U.S. tariff on European wine and spirits is now 10%. The

European Union is keen to reduce that to zero, or, for wine at

least, to the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rates that are set on a

fixed cost per litre basis, rather than in percentage terms.

Asked what tariff EU wine and spirits producers will face

from August 1, unless a different deal is struck, an EU official

close to the negotiations said: "15%."

A senior diplomat close to the talks told Reuters that talks

on wine tariffs would continue after the EU and U.S. finalise

their joint statement on the framework trade deal that was

agreed last Sunday between U.S. President Donald Trump and

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"(This will take place) probably in the autumn. My

understanding is that they would go at the flat 15% rate. Less

clear on spirits where I know there is an old agreement that

should be still in force for zero, or MFN tariffs," the diplomat

said.

Spirits have benefited from zero tariffs between the United

States and European Union since an agreement in 1997 that also

included other countries such as Canada and Japan.

That lasted until 2018, when the EU response to Trump

steel and aluminium tariffs included increased duties on U.S.

bourbon and other spirits. These were suspended in 2021, during

then-U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.

U.S. MFN rates for wine are 19.8 cents per litre for

sparkling and 6.3 cents per litre for most other wine, which

equates to very low rates in most cases.

The EU has already envisaged a quota system for steel

exports with U.S. MFN rates, which are very low or at zero.