On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump announced that he is planning to impose a 200 percent tariff on European countries’ alcoholic products sold to the U.S., responding to a much smaller tariff imposed by the European Union (EU) that was itself was in response to tariffs by Trump earlier this month.

The EU announced on Wednesday that it would place a tariff on U.S.-made whiskey, describing it as a “countermeasure” to Trump’s global tariffs on steel and aluminum. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, called the reaction a “strong but proportionate” one.

Trump’s response to the EU’s latest action was arguably less proportional. In a rant on his Truth Social account the next morning, Trump described the EU as being “hostile” and abusive toward the U.S., calling the retaliatory tariff a “nasty” action.

“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, 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,” Trump said.

Despite Trump claiming the tariff would be good for alcohol producers in the U.S., the National Association of American Wineries has said that it opposes the idea of tariffs in general, including those imposed on foreign countries.

Tariffs........

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