Warning comes after EU announced retaliatory tariffs on $28 billion of US goods in response to US levies on steel and aluminium.
United States President Donald Trump has warned that he will impose tariffs of 200 percent on wine, champagne, and other alcoholic products from European Union countries if the bloc proceeds with its planned tariff on US whiskey.
The EU announced tariffs on $28 billion worth of US goods, including a 50 percent levy on US bourbon whiskey, on Thursday in retaliation against US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that took effect the previous day.
“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, 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 wrote on his Truth Social platform in response to the EU’s announcement.
Trump singled out the 50 percent levy on US whiskey as “nasty,” calling the EU “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World” and claiming it was formed “with the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.”
France swiftly responded, stating it would fight back against any tariffs on alcohol. “We will not give in to threats,” Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on Thursday on X. He added that the US was escalating a trade war that Trump “chose to start” and that France was “determined to retaliate.”
Olof Gill, the European Commission spokesperson for trade issues, urged the US to revoke its duties on steel and aluminium. Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg Television that he planned to speak with his European counterparts, though he did not provide further details.
‘Fed up’
If the US imposes a 200 percent tariff on alcohol imports from the EU, a previously untaxed $15 bottle of Italian prosecco could increase in price to $45. Similarly, Europe’s response to Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs means that the cost of a $30 bottle of bourbon in Paris could rise to $45.
Trump’s latest tariff threats suggest that even companies that have publicly supported him—such as French luxury goods company LVMH, whose CEO attended his inauguration—could become collateral damage.
The imposition of these tariffs raises questions about whether the broader business community might be willing to openly challenge a series of trade wars that have hurt the stock market and alarmed consumers.
Nicolas Ozanam, the director general of the federation representing French wine and spirit exporters (FEVS), said exporters were “fed up with being systematically sacrificed for issues unrelated to our own.”
In the US, Distilled Spirits Council head Chris Swonger called the EU’s plans “deeply disappointing,” noting that they would hit the industry at a time when it was already facing a “slowdown” in its domestic market.
Trump’s trade wars have also targeted Canada, Mexico, and China, citing claims that they are not doing enough to curb fentanyl smuggling or illegal immigration into the United States. He has focused on specific commodities, including steel, aluminium, and copper.
Uncertainty over Trump’s trade policies and concerns that they could trigger a recession have unsettled financial markets.
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