# Donald Trump threatens 200% tariff on EU wine and champagne

## Article Summary

US president Donald Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on wine and champagne from European Union countries, in the latest threat of escalation in the global trade war started by the US president against the country’s biggest trading partners.

Trump said in a post on Thursday on his Truth Social platform that the tariffs on all alcoholic products from the bloc would be retaliation for a “nasty” 50% levy on American bourbon whiskey announced by the EU.

The EU’s action against bourbon whiskey – due to come into effect on 1 April – was itself part of a €26bn ($28bn) response to Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, which came into effect on Wednesday.

Trump claims the US’s trading partners have taken advantage of the US and that tariffs will help him to bring back jobs – a theory that is roundly rejected by most mainstream economists.

The tariffs on the EU, Canada, Mexico and China – and those imposed in retaliation – threaten to tip the US economy into recession, and Trump has admitted there may be a “period of transition” while businesses start producing more in the US.

The White House has so far shrugged off the concerns of investors, after his tariff announcements were greeted with heavy stock market sell-offs that have wiped out all of the share price gains since his election in November.

Despite starting the trade war, Trump appeared to be infuriated by the EU’s retaliatory measures.

He wrote: "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. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.," he added.

The US already circumvents the protected geographical origin rules on European products – American supermarkets are full of US-made imitations of champagne and other delicacies such as parmesan and gorgonzola.

Senior figures in Europe vowed to hold firm. "We will not give in to threats," the French foreign trade minister, Laurent Saint-Martin, wrote on X. "Donald Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash."

France was "determined to retaliate" and would "always protect our sectors", he added.

Trump wrote on Thursday: "The U.S. doesn’t have Free Trade. We have “Stupid Trade.” The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!!” Channeling the former US president Franklin D Roosevelt, he added: "The only thing you have to fear, is fear itself!"

In France, independent winemakers represent 60% of the country’s wine production. They are watching closely to see how the dispute plays out. "We’re very prudent at this stage," said Jean-Marie Fabre, who makes wine in Fitou in the south of France.

French winemakers were concerned they could be swept into the broader tariff row, and had feared tit-for-tat measures when the EU announced retaliatory tariffs on some American products, including US whiskey.

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