Trump Threatens Europe With 200% Alcohol Tariff in Response to Retaliatory Tariff Placed on American Whiskey

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 13. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)

In a social media post Thursday morning, President Donald Trump threatened to impose a major tariff on France and other European countries in response to a 50% retaliatory tariff 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.”

This threat is in response to the European Union’s announcement that it will place tariffs on U.S. goods, including American whiskey, as retaliation to Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump’s claim that this would be great for the “champagne” business in the U.S. is an oxymoron; champagne can only come from the , so the U.S. does not have a champagne business.

Technicalities aside, though, he has a point that these tariffs could prove beneficial for American winemakers.

“More people are going to be flocking to great Champagne-style California sparkling wines, because they’re more affordable by the glass in restaurants, and by the bottle in retail stores,” Marika Vida, a sommelier and owner of Vide et Fils Wine Consulting, said in an article published by Wine-Searcher on Thursday. “And now, people know them. It’s not an unknown grower-producer that will appeal mostly to wine pros and collectors.”

Americans with a taste for imported wines, though, may be in for increased prices.