200% Tariff Threat on French Wines

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20 January 2026

Reuters is reporting that Donald Trump has threatened to impose 200% tariffs on French wines and champagne, framing it as leverage to push Emmanuel Macron to join a new US-led “Board of Peace” initiative. A source close to Macron said the French president plans to decline the invitation, and Trump publicly dismissed Macron’s stance while suggesting the tariff threat could change his mind.

On trade, Reuters notes that EU wines and spirits entering the US currently face a 15% tariff and that the United States is the biggest market for French wine and spirits, with 2024 shipments valued at about 3.8 billion euros. Industry representatives and analysts warned that repeated tariff threats create uncertainty and deter investment.

Meanwhile, the BBC is saying that the European Parliament is expected to pause approval of the EU–US trade deal agreed in July because its trade committee has not finished examining it. Although the deal would set US tariffs on EU imports at 15 per cent, political tensions have risen after a fresh Trump tariff threat linked to Greenland, prompting senior MEPs to say approval cannot proceed yet. The delay matters because the EU’s freeze on retaliatory tariffs on €93bn of US goods expires on 6 February, meaning EU tariffs on US goods could return on 7 February unless the pause is extended or the deal is approved.

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