Trump threatens to tax French wine by 100% due to tax on bigtechs

President Donald Trump warned on Monday (15) that the US "will have no choice" but to impose 100% tariffs on French wine unless Paris eliminates its digital tax on American technology giants.

Trump said he delivered the notice directly to French President Emmanuel Macron, demanding he remove the 3% tax on American tech giants or face tariffs in the American market.

"I asked him not to charge American companies, and if they do, I will have no choice but to impose a 100% tariff on all champagne and wine coming from France," Trump told the New York Post in an interview.

"All (Macron) needs to do is eliminate the sales tax, and he wouldn't have that kind of pressure."

Representatives of the White House and the Élysée Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

French wine and spirits exporters said the latest threat is bad news for an export-dependent sector that is embroiled in a dispute beyond its control, and called for responsible action to preserve the trade balance between France and the US.

Trump has previously threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wine and other alcoholic beverages imported from France and the EU, including in January this year and March last year when transatlantic trade tensions rose.

Trump is expected to arrive in Évian-les-Bains, France, for a meeting of the G7, a group of the seven richest nations, at a time when world leaders are increasingly suspicious of the United States.

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He will be received by Macron, for whom this summit represents the diplomatic culmination of his second and final term, which ends next year.

Alcohol is among the EU's main export products to the US, with a value of approximately 9 billion euros in 2024, according to Eurostat data, with certain products, such as Remy Martin cognac and champagne, having to be produced in specific regions of Europe.

Wines and spirits exported from the EU to the US are currently subject to a 15% tariff - a rate the French have been pushing hard to reduce to zero since Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a US-EU trade deal in Scotland last summer.

Since 2019, France has applied a 3% tax on revenue from digital services earned in French territory by companies with revenues exceeding 25 million euros in the country and 750 million euros worldwide.

Source: CNN