EU spirits lobby rejects being tariff 'bargaining chip'

PARIS (AFP) — The European spirits trade group called on the EU and United States Thursday to stop using the sector as a “bargaining chip” in their tit-for-tat tariffs war.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from European Union countries.

His warning was in response to the bloc’s plan to apply tariffs on $28 billion in U.S. goods, including U.S.-produced whiskey, in retaliation to Trump’s levies on imports of steel and aluminum.

Spirits Europe said it was “deeply alarmed by the renewed threat of tariffs on EU and US spirits — once again, as part of an entirely unrelated dispute.”

“This cycle of tit-for-tat retaliation must end now! We urge both sides to stop using our sector as a bargaining chip in conflicts that have nothing to do with us,” the trade group said in a statement to AFP.

“The EU and U.S. must deescalate this dispute now and ensure spirits are never again caught in the crossfire,” it added.

The group represents 31 associations of spirits producers as well as 11 leading multinational companies.

It said transatlantic spirits trade has “thrived tariff-free” since 1997, except for “brief but damaging disruptions due to past unrelated disputes.”

It noted that EU companies have invested heavily in U.S. production, including American whiskey, while U.S. firms own distilleries across the EU.

“We are each other’s top markets — interwoven by investment, tradition, and shared success,” Spirits Europe said.

Following Trump’s latest warning, French Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his country would “not give in to threats” and was “determined to retaliate.”

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By Agence France-Presse