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President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to impose a 200 percent tariff on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from the European Union after the bloc announced that it would slap a 50 percent tariff on American whiskey in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump slammed the E.U. as “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.” He called the proposed tariff on American whiskey, an industry that is already facing a slowdown in the U.S. market, “nasty.”
“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.
The European Union’s retaliatory tariffs are projected to hit $28 billion in U.S. goods in response to Trump slapping a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum. The E.U., the world’s biggest trading bloc, is not just hitting steel and aluminum but is targeting an array of U.S. goods, such as home appliances, motorcycles and agricultural products.
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Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, warned Wednesday that the whiskey tariff — which would take effect April 1 — would be “very, very devastating.” In a statement, Swonger urged Trump to reach an agreement with the E.U. that would “get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector.”
“We want toasts not tariffs,” Swonger said.
Trump said that his proposed tariffs would be “great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.”
The president has his own interests in the success of American wine after purchasing a winery in Virginia in 2011 that his son Eric Trump now owns and operates.
The back-and-forth with the European Union is the latest fallout from Trump’s escalating war with U.S. trade partners. American companies have been expressing alarm over Trump’s tariffs, warning that the impact will be felt by consumers and hurt the economy.
Trump’s latest threat provoked outrage and consternation in Europe, particularly in countries where wine industries do billions of euros in sales with the United States. French Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin lashed out on X, saying the American leader “is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash.”
“France remains determined to respond with the European Commission and our partners. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors,” Saint-Martin said.
In Italy, representatives of wine producers called for dialogue and rapid negotiations.
Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of the Italian Wine Union, said in statement that a 200 percent tariff on European wines in response to E.U. tariffs on whiskey would cost the E.U. 4.9 billion euros ($5.32 billion) in lost sales — roughly equal to the total value of direct wine exports to the United States.
“We are in the sleep of reason that generates monsters, and we hope for an awakening from this nightmare, because wine is a symbol of friendship between the two peoples,” Frescobaldi said.
Luigi Scordamaglia, head of European Policies of Coldiretti, an Italian farm lobby that also represents vineyards, called on the European Union to make a “gesture of goodwill” to Trump and relax planned duties on American bourbon.
“We need some goodwill. We need some negotiations. We can’t fight,” he said. “I think in this case, for sure, Trump used very hard words, but I still think we can reach an agreement.”
Scordamaglia said that more broadly, his group is working with associations of American farmers to issue a joint declaration against tariffs. “The countermeasures from China are already hitting U.S. farmers,” he said.
If Trump’s trade war escalates with Europe, Scordamaglia said, “the victims will be Italian production chain and Italian industry … but also U.S. farmers and U.S. citizens.”
Ignacio Garcia Bercero, a trade expert at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank, said it is hard to imagine that the European Union would “unilaterally” back down from the specific tariff on American bourbon. More likely, he said, would be a push for a broader, comprehensive discussion on trade and tariffs.
“I think it was clear that there would be a sudden reaction from the United States” to the E.U.’s retaliation this week, he said. “I think there are options for the European Union, but I don’t think climbing down unilaterally is something they will do.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday — before Trump’s latest threat — that she and other European leaders are ready to negotiate.
“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers. They are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy,” von der Leyen said.
Trump and administration officials have been defending his aggressive use of tariffs in recent days amid a volatile stock market and growing fear that the United States could be headed into a recession. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended Trump’s tariff policy, arguing in a CBS News interview Tuesday that it’s “worth it” even if it leads to a recession.
Trump hasn’t dismissed the reality that Americans will feel some economic pain from his tariffs — a tool he repeatedly used in his first term as well.
In a Fox News interview last weekend, Trump said, “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big.” Days earlier, he said Americans should get ready for “a little disturbance” from his tariffs, which are widely expected to raise prices and could worsen inflation.
Trump continued griping about U.S. trading relationships in subsequent Truth Social posts Thursday morning.
“The U.S. doesn’t have Free Trade. We have ‘Stupid Trade,’” Trump wrote. “The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!!”