Alex Trelinski
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has warned Spain and the European Union that he will introduce a 200% tariff on all of its alcohol products if duties are put on US whiskey.
Wine exports from Spain to the US. rose by 20% in December, an increase the Spanish Wine Federation attributes in part to stockpiling by importers ahead of possible tariffs.
The United States is the second-largest export market for Spanish wines after Germany, according to the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation.
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Trump posted on the Truth Social site: “The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% tariff on whisky.”
“If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” he blasted.
“This will be great for the wine and champagne businesses in the US,” he concluded.
The President was clearly unaware that France is the only country that is allowed to produce sparkling wine under the champagne name.
Shares for wines and spirits firms fell on Thursday- spooked by the latest tariff threat.
Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, and Davide Campari were all more than 3% lower after Trump’s posting.
Drinks giant, Diageo, that owns brands including Johnnie Walker and Guinness, was just 0.2% lower, while luxury conglomerate LVMH— parent firm of Moët & Chandon and Hennessy — dipped 1%.
“We have no new comment to make on what President Trump said,” the European Commission’s spokesman for trade affairs, Olof Gill, responded on Thursday.
