France vows to take action against Trump’s 200% tariff threat – Firstpost

France has vowed to fight back against the US President’s recently announced 200 per cent tariffs on champagne, wine and other alcoholic drinks, the country’s foreign minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on Thursday.

“We will not give in to threats,” the minister said on X after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 200-percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from France and other EU countries.

France was “determined to retaliate”, Saint-Martin said.

Trump, in an apparent move that will trigger a global trade war, announced on Truth Social that the US will levy a
200 per cent duty on EU-made alcoholic drinks after the bloc said it will impose counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of US goods from next month.

“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,” the US president said.

Separately Thursday, the French association representing wine and spirits exporters (FEVS) said their interests were being “sacrificed” after the European Commission – which handles trade issues on behalf of member countries – imposed levies on US-produced whiskey.

“This put us directly into the crosshairs of the US president,” said FEVS boss Nicolas Ozanam.

“We are tired of being systematically sacrificed for issues that are unrelated to us,” he told AFP, calling on the EU Commission to “show realism”.

Meanwhile, the EU executive has maintained that it is open to negotiations and considered higher tariffs in no one’s interest.

EU wine exports to the United States were worth 4.9 billion euros last year, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. That was 29 per cent of the EU’s overall exports of wine. Of the EU exports to the United States, France made up almost half and Italy almost 40 per cent.

With inputs from agencies