U.S. President Donald Trump upped the ante last week by threatening 200 percent tariffs on European alcohol. Such a move would disproportionally affect winemaking countries including France, which exported €15.4 billion worth of wine and spirits last year, according to the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS), most of which went to the United States.
France is the EU’s top exporter of wine and spirits, and the sector is particular influential in French politics and society.
With one of its most valuable exports now in the White House’s crosshairs, French leaders appear to be getting cold feet on the whole unity thing. Prime Minster François Bayrou and his government are instead publicly urging Brussels to spare Kentucky bourbon from any possible European response.
After Trump imposed global steel and aluminum tariffs last week, the European Union threatened to retaliate by hitting a list of iconic American exports in return — including Kentucky bourbon. Bayrou said over the weekend putting bourbon on the list was a mistake and France is now pushing to reconsider what is on its retaliatory list.
“We asked them [the European Commission] 50 times not to hit bourbon,” said a French minister who was granted anonymity to speak freely about sensitive negotiations.
Sign of weakness
Jean-Luc Demarty, who was in charge of drafting the European Commission’s tariff retaliation list in 2018, during Trump’s first term, said it was “a mistake” to publicly try to dial back on Brussels’ strategy, as it will be seen in Washington as “a sign of weakness.”
