U.S. President Donald Trump has once again made headlines with his latest threat to impose 200% tariffs on wine, champagne, and other spirits produced in the European Union. This comes after the EU levied a 50% tariff on American-distilled whiskey, which Trump has deemed as “nasty.”
In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump accused the EU of being “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world.” He even went as far as to claim that the EU was formed in 1993 for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States economically.
When asked by a reporter at the White House if he would reconsider his heightened tariff threats against America’s allies, Trump responded with a resounding “no.” He stated, “We’ve been ripped off for years, and we’re not going to be ripped off anymore. No, I’m not going to bend at all – aluminum or steel or cars.”
This latest tariff threat is just one of many in the past month, as Trump has been engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff fight with some of the United States’ biggest trading partners, including Mexico, Canada, China, and the EU. Trump claims that these tariffs are necessary to stop the flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl, into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada. He also hopes to encourage manufacturers to move their operations back to the U.S. and create more American jobs.
Just yesterday, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports from 35 countries, including the EU. In response, Europe quickly retaliated with its own tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. exports to countries that have long had close relations with the U.S. Canada also imposed new tariffs on $20.7 billion worth of U.S. exports to its northern neighbor.
These new EU measures not only target steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances, and agricultural goods. In addition, products such as motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans will also be hit, as they were during Trump’s first term in office.
The EU’s decision to impose these tariffs is aimed at putting political pressure on the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have stated that these tariffs, which are paid by importing companies and then passed on to consumers, are specifically targeting products from states dominated by Republicans, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska, wood products from Alabama and Georgia, and liquor from Kentucky and Tennessee.
Unfortunately, the spirits industry has become collateral damage in this ongoing trade dispute. Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, has called the EU’s move to tax U.S.-produced spirits “deeply disappointing” and believes it will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries.
The EU is a major market for U.S. whiskey, with exports increasing by 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended. Swonger stated, “The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997.” He urged an end to the tariff dispute over spirits between the U.S. and Europe, saying, “We want toasts, not tariffs.”
Trump’s tariff wars have also caused a broad selloff on Wall Street, with the three major U.S. stock indexes plunging in recent days. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not concerned, stating, “We’re focused on the real economy. I’m not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks. I can’t tell you the market is going to go up today, tomorrow, next week.”
Bessent also dismissed concerns about Trump’s threat to impose even bigger tariffs on European spirits, saying, “One or two items with one trading bloc – I’m not sure why that’s a big deal for the markets.”
In his social media post, Trump also took aim at The Wall Street Journal, the country’s leading business publication, for not supporting his tariff plans. A recent Journal editorial stated that “most Americans understand that tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses.” Trump responded by saying that the newspaper “has no idea what they are doing or saying” and that they are “owned by the polluted thinking of the European Union.” He went on to say that the newspaper’s “thinking
