Topics: Politics, US News, Donald Trump, Europe, World News, Alcohol, Canada, France
President Trump has threatened the European Union with 200 percent tariffs on specific goods if they don’t remove what he calls a ‘nasty’ tax.
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social today (March 13), the US President has slammed the EU as one of the 'most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world' as he threatens to crank up eye-watering tariffs coming out of the European Union on goods like alcohol.
The POTUS claimed this is because the EU was 'formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States' and has inflicted a 'nasty' 50 percent tariff on whisky.
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Trump continued: "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.
"This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S," he added.
The threat comes as the EU commission cranked up taxes as a retaliatory measure against the US, after Washington inflicted 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The EU said its 50 percent levy applies to €26 billion (around $28 billion) of US goods, including booze like bourbon whiskey.
In a statement, president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen criticized Trump's vision, saying it is 'bad for business' and consumers alike.
She said: “The trade relations between the European Union and the US are the biggest in the world. They have brought prosperity and security to millions of people, and trade has created millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic."
As for the US' 25 percent tariffs on metal, she said: "We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers.
"These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business."
Leyen said the EU's countermeasures announced today are 'strong but proportionate.'
"As the US are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth €26 billion. This matches the economic scope of the US tariffs."
She vowed the counter-tariffs will start on April 1 with a view to take full effect as of April 13 while keeping the door open to the US for further negotiations.
"We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs," the EU head continued. "We are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue."
The news comes as Trump has appeared to sour relations with neighboring Canada amid the escalating trade war and back-and-forth threats of tariffs.
The President indicated early in his second term that he planned to impose some tough sanctions on US trading partners, citing issues from drugs and people illegally crossing into its borders.
Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, also threatened to apply a 25 percent surcharge on electricity - or plunge 1.5 million Americans into darkness by pulling the plug entirely on its supply across New York, Michigan and Minnesota if Trump continued to 'escalate' matters.
However, when Trump snapped back that Canada would face a 50 percent hike on alumium and steel, Ford agreed to momentarily suspend the plan.
