Trump threatens a 200% tariff on European alcohol
In an escalation of the ongoing trade war with Europe, President Trump is now threatening a 200% tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Union’s retaliation against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.
The 25% tariff on aluminum and steel went into effect on Wednesday — a move that the EU calls “unjustified.” In response, the EU announced tariffs on €26 billion ($28 billion) worth of U.S. goods, including agricultural products and bourbon.
Posting on his Truth Social account, Trump called the EU “the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.”
He added that if the bloc doesn’t walk back a planned 50% tariff on whisky, then “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.”
The global alcohol market has faced a challenging past few years, but was expecting a 2025 that promised “moderate recovery,” according to IWSR, a global drinks data and insight provider. But that was before the threatened tariffs.
Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, urged Trump to reach an agreement with the EU that avoids any further tariffs and harm to the U.S. spirits industry.
“The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997,” Swonger said in a statement to NPR. “The U.S. spirits sector supports more than $200 billion in economic activity, 1.7 million jobs across production, distribution, hospitality and retail, and the purchase of 2.8 billion pounds of grains from American farmers.”
“We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which benefits the hospitality industry and U.S. craft distillers who export their products,” he added. “We want toasts not tariffs.”
With temporary protections for some Afghans set to expire, appeals court steps in
An appeals court late Monday stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation.
HBO’s new Billy Joel documentary is revelatory — even if it pulls some punches
The new two-part documentary, which premieres Friday on HBO, is a good example of the tension between access and objectivity that filmmakers face in making documentaries on celebrities.
A wildfire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. It burned down once before
The Grand Canyon Lodge is the only hotel on the park's North Rim, which is closed for the rest of the season due to wildfire risk. The hotel was already rebuilt once, after a kitchen fire in 1932.
Why the Federal Reserve’s building renovations are attracting the White House’s ire
The Fed's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation is attracting mounting criticism from the Trump administration, which had been already attacking the central bank for not cutting interest rates.
Supreme Court says Trump’s efforts to close the Education Department can continue
The Trump administration had appealed a decision that had directed it to stop gutting the U.S. Education Department and to reinstate many of the workers the government had laid off.
Trump tells supporters not to ‘waste time’ on Epstein files. They’re not happy
President Trump is facing backlash from his supporters and opponents alike for how his administration has handled the release of evidence surrounding the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
