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The president said he would impose the levies if the European Union did not walk back plans to place retaliatory tariffs on whiskey and other U.S. products.
- March 13, 2025Updated 2:29 p.m. ET
President Trump escalated his trade war with the European Union on Thursday, threatening 200 percent tariffs on European wine and champagne that deepened anxiety among businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mr. Trump’s announcement, in which he called the European Union “hostile and abusive,” came a day after the bloc’s leaders unveiled plans to retaliate against a batch of U.S. tariffs that took effect this week by imposing 50 percent tariffs on imports of U.S. whiskey and several other American products.
“If this tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200 percent tariff on all wines, Champagnes, and alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media on Thursday.
The European Union’s tariff plan came in response to a set of U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and other related products that took hold on Wednesday.
The 27-nation bloc explained that it would react to America’s steel and aluminum tariffs in two waves: first, with tariffs as high as 50 percent on U.S. products including Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon, which will take effect on April 1; and second, a series of measures in mid-April that would target farm products and industrial goods that are important to Republican districts.
European leaders have made it clear that they would prefer not to enact those measures, and would like to come to an agreement with Mr. Trump instead.
