WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Wine and spirits are front and center in President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with European allies.
Just after sunrise Thursday, Trump threatened in a social media post to slap a 200% tariff on all wine, Champagne and other alcohol products from France and other European Union countries.
“This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
French Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin responded on X by saying Trump “is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash” and that France “will not give into threats,” according to a translation.
Alcoholic beverages ranked 11th on the list of top European products exported to the United States in 2024, according to the European Commission.
U.S. imports of European wine, vermouth, spirits and beer approached $13 billion last year, according to International Trade Centre data.
U.S. bourbon and whiskey
Trump said the U.S. would be imposing the tax “shortly” if the EU does not immediately drop its plans to impose levies next month on hundreds of American products, including a 50% tariff on the country’s iconic Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey.
The EU announced Wednesday forthcoming taxes on a lengthy list of American goods, also including beer, clothes, makeup and motorcycles, in response to Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that took effect the same day.
The latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs is not the first time American alcohol producers have been impacted by a trade war.
A new analysis by the center-right Tax Foundation shows American distillers lost hundreds of millions after tariffs imposed during Trump’s first presidency sparked 25% retaliatory levies from the EU and the United Kingdom.
American whiskey imports to the EU and UK fell 27% from 2018 to 2019 and another 15% from 2019 to 2020, according to the analysis published Thursday. The foundation calculated that domestic distillers lost about $649 million in exports, assuming the imports would have remained flat at previous levels. The industry did not rebound until 2023.
Rebuilding spirits exports
Chris Swonger, CEO and president of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said Wednesday the return of EU tariffs “will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries.”
“Many spirits products are recognized as ‘distinctive products’ by the U.S. and EU and can only be made in their designated countries. As a result, the production of these spirits products, including Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, Cognac, and Irish Whiskey, cannot simply be moved to another country or region,” Swonger said in a statement.
“Reimposing these debilitating tariffs at a time when the spirits industry continues to face a slowdown in U.S. marketplace will further curtail growth and negatively impact distillers and farmers in states across the country,” Swonger continued.
The transatlantic spirits trade increased by nearly 450% from 1997 to 2018 when the U.S. and EU agreed to reciprocal zero-to-zero tariffs on alcohol beverages trade, according to the council.
