President Donald Trump on Monday warned 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 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.
Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on wine and other alcoholic beverages imported from France and the EU before, including in January this year and last year in March as transatlantic trade tensions escalated.
Trump is due to arrive in France’s Evian-les-Bains for a gathering of the G7 wealthy nations at a time when global leaders are increasingly wary of the US.
He will be greeted by Macron, for whom this summit serves as a diplomatic capstone for his second and final term in office, which draws to a close next year.
Alcohol is among the EU’s top exports to the US worth about €9bn (R169bn) in 2024, according to Eurostat data, with certain products such as 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 hard to reduce to zero since Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on a US-EU trade deal in Scotland last summer.
France has applied a 3% levy since 2019 on revenue from digital services earned in France by companies with revenues of more than €25m (R469m) there and €750m (R14bn) worldwide.
Reuters
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