President Trump threatened Thursday to impose a massive tariff on wines and other alcoholic beverages from France and other European nations.
Mr. Trump said the imports would face a 200% tariff if the E.U. does not lift its 50% tariff on American whiskey. The bloc targeted bourbon, farm products and other U.S. goods this week in response to Mr. Trump’s tariff on steel and aluminum imports.
Mr. Trump called the whiskey levy “nasty” and said his threat to retaliate would protect homegrown beverages.
“This will be great for the wine and champagne businesses in the U.S.,” Mr. Trump, who is a non-drinker, posted on social media.
Mr. Trump did not say when the tariff would take effect, but he plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on an array of nations on April 2.
The threat is the latest volley in Mr. Trump’s trade wars with North American neighbors, China and Europe.
Mr. Trump says the U.S. economy is going through a detox period and will benefit in the long run if more companies produce goods in the U.S. His congressional allies are pushing tax cuts and a regulatory overhaul.
Yet his on-again, off-again tariff threats are spooking Wall Street investors, who say they need certainty and fear a recession. Major indexes were in negative territory as traders digested the latest news, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed it off.
“Look, I’m less concerned about the short term,” Mr. Bessent told White House reporters. “We want to protect the American worker.”
Mr. Trump’s threat to target European alcohol could be problematic for some consumers. Wines have specific characteristics due to soil and climate that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
Champagne, for example, is only considered Champagne if it is made in a specific northeast region of France.
Prices could rise, too. Tariffs are paid by importers of record, often U.S. companies, who bring foreign products into the U.S., and they may pass along the costs to customers.
French Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said Mr. Trump is “escalating the trade war he chose to unleash.”
“France remains determined to respond with the European Commission and our partners,” Mr. Saint-Martin posted on X. “We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors.”
A key trade group for the European alcohol industry, spiritsEUROPE, said the tariffs would devastate E.U. producers and U.S. companies that rely on their products in their supply chains.
“We fail to understand how this will help with the broader, unrelated dispute on steel and aluminum,” said Pauline Bastidon, the trade and economic affairs director at spiritsEUROPE. “The E.U. and U.S. spirits sectors stand united in their steadfast commitment to maintaining transatlantic spirits trade tariff-free.”
