“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. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.” Trump said.
France, Italy and Spain would be hardest hit by the 200 percent mark-up.
French agriculture minister Annie Genevard told POLITICO that “France and the EU do not want a trade war with the United States, like the one that President Trump has initiated.” She added, however, that Europe “will react firmly to safeguard the interests of their companies in the face of arbitrary measures that violate international law.”
The EU does not import a significant amount of wine from the United States. Even though some U.S. producers call their sparkling wines “champagne,” the bubbly drink can legally only be produced in the Champagne region of France.
Market closed
Europeans reacted with horror to the early-morning missive from Trump, who is a teetotaler.
“This would de facto close the U.S. market for EU wine makers,” said Ignacio Sánchez-Recarte, who leads the European Committee of Wine Companies, or CEEV. “For any wine producer in Europe, the U.S. will be their biggest market. And there is no alternative” in size, nor in income levels.