President Donald Trump on Monday warned that the US will “have no choice” but to apply 100% tariffs on French wine unless Paris eliminates its digital tax on American tech giants.
Trump said he delivered the warning directly to French President Emmanuel Macron, demanding he remove the 3% tax on US tech giants or face duties in the American market.
“I asked him not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France,” Trump told the New York Post in an interview. “All (Macron) has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”
The White House and Elysee officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alcohol is among the EU's top exports to the US, worth about €9 billion ($10.46 billion) in 2024, according to Eurostat data, with certain products like Remy Martin cognac and champagne required to be produced in specific European regions.
President Emmanuel Macron said France would not bow to pressure from President Donald Trump and scrap its digital tax on US tech giants, hours before the two meet at a summit on Monday.
Macron told French television channel TF1 that "tariffs don't do anyone any good, especially tariffs between G7 countries". Asked if he would yield to the tariff threats, he responded: "No, because that is not how it works."
Past Threats
France has applied a 3% levy since 2019 on revenue from digital services earned in France by companies with revenues of more than €25 million there and €750 million worldwide.
French wine and spirits exporters said the latest US threat was bad news for an export-dependent industry caught in a dispute beyond its control and urged responsible action. Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on wine and other alcoholic beverages imported from France and the European Union before, including in January this year and last year in March.
He will take part in the gathering of the Group of Seven wealthy nations at a time when global leaders are increasingly wary of the United States.
For Macron the summit is a diplomatic capstone for his second and final term in office, which ends next year. Alcohol is among the EU's top exports to the US, worth about €9 billion in 2024, according to Eurostat data, with products like Remy Martin cognac and champagne required to be produced in specific European regions.
Wines and spirits exported to the US from the EU currently face a 15% tariff, a rate the French have been lobbying to cut to zero since Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed a US-EU trade deal in Scotland last summer.