Donald Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits if EU goes forward with a tariff on American whiskey.
The US president took to his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday to issue his latest threat in his escalating trade war.
He wrote: "The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% tariff on whisky.
See also: How will Donald Trump’s tariff war impact me?
"If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US 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 US," he added.
It comes as the European Union has said it will impose counter tariffs on $28 billion of American goods, in response to Trump increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.
Increased tariffs on the imports into the US took effect across the globe on Wednesday, with 25% levies introduced on all metals, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.
The European Commission responded almost immediately, saying it would impose counter tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of US goods from next month.
France’s European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad said the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, could go further in its response but insisted a trade war was in no one’s interests.
The blanket tariffs have also been criticised in Britain, with Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying “all options were on the table” to respond in the national interest.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the move was “entirely unjustified ... and against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship” but ruled out tit-for-tat duties.
“Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation. They are paid by the consumers,” Mr Albanese told reporters.
Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea are expected to be the countries hit hardest by the American tariffs.
Trump even threatened to double the duty on Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the US to 50% in the run-up to the tariff deadline on Tuesday.
But the US president backed off after Ontario Premier Doug Ford agreed to suspend his province's decision to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the states of Minnesota, Michigan and New York until earlier US tariffs were removed.
Mr Ford said he would fly to Washington on Thursday with Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc for talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other Trump officials to discuss revising the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.
The incident whip-sawed US financial markets, which were already jittery over Trump's broad tariff offensive, but left unchanged Trump's original plans to strengthen the Section 232 national security tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed in 2018 during his first term.
A White House spokesperson described the US pressure on Canada as a “win” for the American people.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency cut off imports qualifying for duty-free entry under quota arrangements well before the midnight deadline, saying in a bulletin to shippers that quota paperwork needed to be processed by 4.30pm local time on Tuesday at US ports of entry or the full tariffs would be charged.
The move has been welcomed by US steel producers. “By closing loopholes in the tariff that have been exploited for years, President Trump will again supercharge a steel industry that stands ready to rebuild America,” Steel Manufacturers Association President Philip Bell said in a statement.
“The revised tariff will ensure that steelmakers in America can continue to create new high-paying jobs and make greater investments knowing that they will not be undercut by unfair trade practices,” Mr Bell added.
The escalation of the US-Canada trade war occurred as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepared to hand over power this week to his successor Mark Carney, who won the leadership race of the ruling Liberals last weekend.
On Monday, Mr Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, said he could not speak with Trump until he was sworn in as prime minister. Trump again on social media said he wanted Canada “to become our cherished Fifty First State”.
China remains the number two supplier of aluminum and goods made from aluminum but already faces high tariffs to counteract alleged dumping and subsidies, as well as a new 20% tariff that Trump has imposed over the past month over fentanyl trafficking.
Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs since taking office in January has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence in ways that economists increasingly worry could cause a US recession.
A small business survey on Tuesday showed sentiment weakening for a third straight month, fully eroding a confidence boost following Trump’s November 5 election victory, and a survey of households by the New York Federal Reserve on Monday showed consumers growing more pessimistic about their finances, inflation and the job market.
