US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose 200 % tariffs on wine, champagne and different alcoholic merchandise from European Union nations, in retaliation towards the bloc’s deliberate levies on US-produced whiskey.
Trump has launched commerce wars towards opponents and companions alike since taking workplace, wielding tariffs as a device to stress nations on commerce and different coverage points.
His newest salvo was in response to Wednesday’s unveiling by the European Union of tariffs on $28 billion in US items in levels from April — measures that in flip retaliated towards Trump’s earlier levies towards metal and aluminium imports.
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“If this Tariff is just not eliminated instantly, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump posted Thursday on his Reality Social platform.
Trump additionally renewed his harsh criticism of the bloc, singling out a 50 % levy on US whiskey as “nasty.”
He termed the EU “one of the hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities within the World” and mentioned it “was fashioned for the only real function of benefiting from the US.”
France swiftly responded that it could battle again towards any tariffs on wine and alcohol.
“We won’t give in to threats,” International Commerce Minister Laurent Saint-Martin mentioned Thursday on X. He added that France was “decided to retaliate.”
‘Fed up’
French wine and spirit exporters, nonetheless, have been angered at being put in Trump’s line of fireplace, their federation mentioned.
“We’re fed up with being systematically sacrificed for points unrelated to our personal,” Nicolas Ozanam, the director basic of the federation, identified by the acronym FEVS, mentioned.
In feedback made earlier than Trump’s Thursday threats, EU commerce spokesman Olof Gill mentioned the bloc was “ready” for the scenario.
“We’re ready for no matter would possibly come and we now have been making ready for over a yr,” he mentioned. “I do wish to emphasize… that we deeply remorse the introduction of tariffs on metal and aluminium imports yesterday.”
Uncertainty over Trump’s commerce plans and worries that they might set off a recession have roiled monetary markets. US shares opened decrease on Thursday, following the lead of Asian markets, though European markets rose.
US distillers have referred to as the EU’s levy on American whiskey “deeply disappointing.”
“Reimposing these debilitating tariffs at a time when the spirits trade continues to face a slowdown in US market will additional curtail progress and negatively influence distillers and farmers in states throughout the nation,” mentioned Distilled Spirits Council head Chris Swonger in a press release on Wednesday.
A 2018 imposition of comparable tariffs led to a 20 % drop in American whiskey exports to the European Union.
The lifting of that measure in 2021 noticed US whiskey exports surge by practically 60 % to $699 million in 2024, trade knowledge confirmed.
It was not instantly clear what authorized justification Trump would depend on to hike tariffs on European alcohol.
Trump’s tariff wars have taken intention at Canada, Mexico and China over allegations they don’t seem to be doing sufficient to curtail fentanyl smuggling or unlawful immigration into the US — even when within the case of Canada the border sees negligible ranges of smuggling.
He has additionally taken intention at particular commodities, together with metal, aluminum and copper.
Some nations, very similar to the EU, have imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s strikes to handle what he phrases unfair commerce imbalances.
China has vowed “all crucial measures” in response to US measures, and has already imposed duties of 10 % and 15 % focusing on US agriculture merchandise starting from soybeans to rooster.
European Fee chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday maintained that the EU’s retaliation, affecting merchandise starting from bourbon to motorbikes, was “sturdy however proportionate.”
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