Donald Trump has warned the European Union he will impose a 200% tariff on its alcohol – including wine and champagne – if the bloc imposes duties on US whiskey.
The US president used a social media post to issue his latest threat to the EU, having previously warned that it was created to “screw the United States”.
He wrote in a Truth Social post: “The European Union, 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, has just put a nasty 50% tariff on whisky.
“If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US 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 US,” he concluded.
It was Mr Trump’s response to a European Commission pledge to reimpose previously suspended tariffs on the US in response to US steel and aluminium duties which came into force on Wednesday.
The commission said its retaliatory measures would target US goods worth €26bn from 1 April unless talks could resolve the trade war escalation.
Mr Trump is widely expected, from 2 April, to carry out a previous threat that would see all EU exports to the United States come under tariffs – mirroring current plans to target his closest neighbours Mexico and Canada.
Financial markets were quick to react to the latest escalation, with EU stock markets sinking across the board.
The declines were led by drinks manufacturers. Pernod Ricard on the CAC in Paris, for example, was more than 3.5% lower in the moments after Mr Trump’s post was published.
The FTSE 100 was also in negative territory.
While the UK has not been threatened directly with tariffs beyond the universal steel and aluminium duties, many of its constituent companies would be hurt by an expanding EU-US trade spat.
United Nations data shows that EU nations export alcoholic drinks worth more than $11bn per year to the United States, with wine accounting for half that sum.
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