US President made the threat in a post on social media, after the EU proposed a tariff on American whiskey
The European tariff was expected to take effect on April 1.
Although the UK is no longer a member of the EU, there is no guarantee that large Scottish drinks distributors such as Chivas Brothers in Dumbarton would not be affected by this announcment.
Trump said in a social media post that the EU was “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.”
“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 EU REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump said.
“This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the US,” Trump added.
The Republican president had signalled on Wednesday that he intended to take the action.
“Of course I will respond,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange.
Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminium tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged US allies and vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation.
He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.
These measures cover not just steel and aluminium products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.
Swinney’s decision to meet Trump’s son was ‘bad call’, says Green co-leader
Meanwhile, John Swinney’s decision to meet with Donald Trump’s son at Bute House was a “very bad call”, Lorna Slater has said.
The Scottish Greens co-leader said the sit-down with Eric Trump at the First Minister’s official residence sent a “bad message”.
The pair met in Edinburgh on Thursday to discuss the Trump family’s business in Scotland, which once had a major interest in Loch Lomond Golf Club at Luss.
In a statement, Trump said he did not discuss politics with the SNP leader – who has called for his father’s state visit to the UK to be cancelled due to his treatment of Ukraine.
Appearing on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Slater, pictured left, warned the First Minister he cannot trust the Trump family.
She said: “Donald Trump will turn on his friends and allies the instant he sees that it is in his interest to do so.
“Building up relationships with him is putting businesses at risk because he could turn on them at any time.
“Look at what’s happened to Canadian businesses just about overnight.”
She said the meeting was a “really bad call and a bad message to send that he [Mr Swinney] wants to be friends with Donald Trump and his businesses”.
One thing for certain is that Trump is not a crackpot. Nor is his administration crackpots,
Why would you import European drinks when the USA has fine vineyards and fine distilleries of their own, And he’s right too about setting pharmaceutical headquarters over in Ireland so that the industry can transfer price profits to Ireland, a low corporation tax haven so corporates can as avoid USA taxes.
And what’s crackpot about wanting to end the war with Russia, to move the world onto a footing that spends less on weapons and more on trade. Trump is the exact opposite of Sir Keir Starmer where we are now cutting social welfare and increasing taxes to fund the military establishment. Rearming for war she says will create the landscape for worker prosperity. 1930s Germany, 2025 Great Britain, the paralles are uncanny,
Britain’s big problem is that economically it is sliding down the world charts big time. What does it produce – steel, ships, televisions and other such electronic goods are all going if not gone as the manufacturing base vanishes. And the City, the great City of London, it too now slips down the charts with even the AIM market struggling to continue. Trade imbalance, shrinking recessionary economy, slipped GDP, and all topped up with huge national debt. But maybe Starmer is right, a good going war against Russia will bring back British greatness.
But I fear not. with our declining outputs by every measure, and that includes education, folks are just going to get poorer. The world doesn’t owe us a living much that we might think so.