WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.
The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect on April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.
But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU goes forward with the planned 50% tax on American whiskey.
“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. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.”
The U.S. president has defined his opening weeks in the White House with near daily drama regarding tariffs, saying that taxing imports might cause some economic pain but would eventually lead to more domestic manufacturing and greater respect for America.
But with the EU and Trump now tussling over alcohol tariffs, the impact of a trade war could surface for consumers. It’s unclear how the import taxes would be absorbed among vintners, distillers, brewers, distributors, retailers and consumers.
Because of Trump’s threat, a previously untariffed $15 bottle of Italian Prosecco could possibly increase in price to $45. Similarly, Europe’s response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs means that the cost of a 30-euro bottle of bourbon in Paris could increase to 45 euros.
Holly Seidewand, owner of First Fill Spirits, a shop in Saratoga Springs, New York, said before Trump threatened the tariffs on European alcohol, the spirits industry was already reeling from layoff announcements in the Kentucky Bourbon sector and the tariffs planned by the EU on American spirits.
“This ongoing tariff war doesn’t just harm importers — it weakens domestic brands, disrupts distributors, and squeezes retailers who rely on global selections,” she said. “In the end, consumers will bear the brunt of it all.”
Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, said a 200% tariff would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S.
“I don’t think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne,” he said.
As of now, Europe seems unwilling to back down.
“Trump is escalating the trade war he has chosen,” Laurent Saint-Martin, the French delegate minister for foreign trade, said on X. “France, together with the European Commission and our partners, is determined to fight back. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries.”
Still, European producers see the trade war as financially destructive.
The French Wine and Spirits Exports Federation had called on the EU and its member states to remove wines and spirits from the lists of products hit by tariffs in response to the U.S. duties on steel and aluminum. The FEVS said on Wednesday it was “dismayed” by the EU announcement, which came “when the French wine and spirits sector is extremely vulnerable, for both economic and geopolitical reasons.”
Trump’s latest tariff threats suggested that even companies that have publicly stood by him could be collateral damage, raising questions about whether the wider business community would be willing to openly challenge a series of trade wars that have hurt the stock market and scared consumers who worry about inflation worsening.
Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods company LVMH, attended Trump’s inauguration in January. His company’s wine and spirits brands, which include Moët & Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot and Hennessy, could be subject to the retaliatory tariffs the U.S. president is seeking. The Italian company Campari could also be hurt, after the White House highlighted it at Tuesday’s press briefing for possibly opening a U.S. factory. The Republican president on Wednesday had signaled that he intended to take the tariffs action.
“Of course I will respond,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange with reporters. Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation.
He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.
The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion.
