Could Trump impose 200% tariff on alcohol from EU?

The threat is a response to the EU’s plans for a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey as part of its retaliation to Trump’s tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US, BBC News reported.

Trump has recently called for the immediate removal of the EU’s “nasty” tariff on US whiskey.

According to the media, he called it “hostile and abusive” and said it was formed “for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States”.

A European Commission spokesperson said that the commission members are ready to discuss the situation.

BBC News confirmed that Europe sends more than £3.78bn (€4.5bn; $4.89bn) worth of wine each year to the US.

It its largest export market, according to the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins, which represents the European wine industry.

Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, secretary-general of the group, told the media that the threats became true, the market could be destroyed, costing thousands of jobs.

He added that there is no alternative to selling this amount of wine elsewhere and pleded to “keep wine out of this fight”.

The threats follow the news that US tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect earlier this week.

They are aimed at imports of the metals with a blanket duty of 25%, ending exemptions from the duties that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries, including from the EU and Canada, BBC News explained.

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