After the European Union responded by introducing tariffs on American bourbon to the tariffs recently introduced by Donald Trump in Europe, the American president is now threatening new taxes - of 200 percent, on wine and champagne
American president Donald tramp threatened to introduce a 200 percent tariff on wine and champagne from European Union countries.
This is the latest in a series of such threats announced by the American president against the largest trading partners of the USA.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said the tariffs on all EU alcohol would be in retaliation for a "nasty" 50 percent tariff on American bourbon announced by the EU.
EU decision on bourbon - due to take effect on April 1 - is part of a 26 billion euro ($28 billion) response to Trump's 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which took effect on Wednesday.
Why is Trump imposing tariffs?
Trump claims that America has been taken advantage of by US trading partners and that the tariffs will help bring back jobs - a theory that most mainstream economists roundly reject. Tariffs on products from the EU, Canada, Mexico and China - as well as those imposed in retaliation - threaten to push the US economy into recession, and Trump has acknowledged that there could be a "transition period" until companies start manufacturing in the US again.
The White House has so far ignored investor concerns, even as the tariff announcements sparked a major sell-off in the stock market that reversed any gains in stock prices since Trump's election victory in November.
Despite starting a trade war, Trump seemed enraged by the EU's retaliatory measures.
He wrote: "If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will soon impose a 200% tariff on all wine, champagne and spirits coming from France and other countries represented by the EU."
"This will be great for the wine and champagne industry in the US," he added.
Worried winemakers
The US is already circumventing the rules on the protected geographical origin of European products. American supermarkets are full of domestic imitations of champagne and other delicacies such as Parmesan and Gorgonzola, writes "The Guardian".
In France, independent winemakers produce about 60 percent of the country's wine. They are carefully monitoring how the dispute will develop.
"We are very cautious at this stage," says Jean-Marie Fabre, president of the Association of Independent Winemakers of France.
French winemakers are worried they could be drawn into a wider tariff dispute and fear retaliatory measures since the EU announced tariffs on some US products, including US whisky.
"The entire wine sector has gone through a series of crises of a different nature that have already seriously tested us, including the covid crisis, inflation, the war in Ukraine and climate challenges. Winemakers, regardless of size, and especially small winemakers, found themselves in a vulnerable position," concludes Fabre.
Source: The Guardian
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