United States President Donald Trump has warned he will impose tariffs of 200 percent on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from European Union countries if the bloc goes ahead with a planned tariff on US whiskey.
The EU announced tariffs on $28bn in US goods, including a 50 percent levy on US bourbon whiskey, on Thursday in retaliation after US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports came into effect the previous day.
He singled out the 50 percent levy on US whiskey as “nasty”, describing the EU as “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World”, which had been formed with “the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States”.
France swiftly responded that it would fight back against any tariffs on alcohol.
“It is important for us Europeans to show who we are and that we will not yield to these kinds of threats,” said French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in an address on Thursday at a trade forum.
French Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on X 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 in charge of trade issues, urged the US to revoke its duties on steel and aluminium.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU commissioner for trade, held an introductory call with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in which he expressed concern over US tariffs and their negative economic impact on both sides.
aljazeera
