WASHIGNTON - President Trump on Thursday announced another salvo in a fast-escalating trade war with the European Union, saying he would impose a 200% tariff on U.S. imports of wine, Champagne and other alcoholic beverages from the 27-nation bloc.

The tariff threat, if followed through on, would effectively cut off the American market for much of Europe’s most iconic beverages, industry groups said. Trump said he was responding to the EU’s decision to impose a 50% levy on American whiskey—itself a response to 25% steel and aluminum tariffs that Trump imposed this week.

The tit-for-tat over alcoholic beverages, which pushed down shares in European drinks companies, could target more than $10 billion worth of European exports to the U.S. depending on how broadly Trump imposes tariffs. In 2024, the U.S. imported roughly $5.4 billion of wine from the EU, which includes about $1.7 billion in sparkling wines, according to Census Bureau data. It also imported more than $1 billion of beer and more than $3.5 billion of spirits such as vodka, gin and whiskey.

“Donald Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash,” French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin wrote in a post on X. “France remains determined to retaliate together with the European Commission and our partners.”

EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic reached out to Trump administration officials immediately after Brussels announced its counter tariffs on Wednesday, an EU spokesman said. Sefcovic is due to speak by phone with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday.

“We don’t like tariffs because we think that tariffs are taxes, and they are bad for business and they are bad for consumers,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday when she was asked during a press conference about the 200% tariff threat.

Von der Leyen said the bloc has shown that it will defend its interests. “But at the same time I also want to emphasize that we are open for negotiations,” she said.

The new U.S. tariff threat on EU alcohol was reminiscent of Trump’s first term, when he threatened 100% tariffs on French wine and cheese over its plan to tax American tech companies. (The sides reached an agreement before those duties went into effect.) EU wines and spirits had also faced tariffs as a part of a long-running dispute between Boeing and European airplane maker Airbus, but the U.S. and EU agreed to a five-year truce on those duties in 2021.

The EU has said that it is prepared to strike a deal with the U.S. to avoid tariffs.

The bloc on Wednesday announced plans to impose levies of up to 50% on American whiskey, motorcycles, motorboats and a range of other products starting in April. The EU said its tariffs could cover as much as $28 billion in U.S. goods, an amount that it said would match the value of EU exports affected by U.S. metals tariffs.

It is hard to overstate the effect 200% tariffs would have for European alcohol producers. The European Committee of Wine Companies, an EU trade association, said they would effectively close the U.S. market.

“There is no way that we can export at 200% tariffs,” said Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, the group’s secretary-general. “For many, many companies, it will be a serious crisis.”

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade association, said Thursday that it wants Trump to secure a deal with the EU that would result in zero tariffs on spirits imports from both economies.

“We want toasts, not tariffs,” Chief Executive Chris Swonger said.

France, the eurozone’s second-biggest economy, is the world’s largest wine exporter, followed by Italy and Spain. France’s most-valuable company, luxury giant LVMH, is a major producer of Champagne and cognac. The U.S. is one of LVMH’s biggest markets, particularly for its Hennessy cognac. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Story Date: March 14, 2025