President Donald Trump's trade war is spilling across the Atlantic, and his latest tariff threats might be the least defensible yet.
In a Thursday morning post on Truth Social, Trump threatened to slap "a 200 percent tariff on all wines, Champagnes, & alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries." That's in retaliation to the European Union's decision earlier this week to place new 50 percent tariffs on American whiskey, bourbon, and a variety of other items including motorcycles and agricultural goods. Those new E.U. tariffs will take effect on April 1—one day before the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" that Trump has threatened to impose on all imports from everywhere around the globe.
"Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash," wrote Laurent Saint-Martin, France's minister for foreign trade, in a Thursday post on X. "We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors."
