Catenna, Thursday, March 13, 2025– US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a 200% tariff on European wines, champagnes, and other alcoholic imports, threatening the trade worth $14.23 billion. Trump announced the tariffs on Truth Social in response to the 50% tariff the European Union imposed on American whiskey.
The US is a critical export destination for European alcohol producers, having imported $14.23 billion worth of beverage, spirit, and vinegar products from the EU in 2024, according to the International Trade Centre. Among these, $5.65 billion came from wine, with the US accounting for nearly 20% of the EU’s total wine exports.
“The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world… has just put a nasty 50% tariff on whisky. 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The spirits and liqueurs sector is even more exposed, with $5.54 billion in shipments to the US last year—22% of the bloc’s total exports in this category.
European beer exports are less reliant on US demand, with the EU shipping $1.19 billion worth of beer to the US last year—around 12% of its total beer exports.
Trump’s announcement sent European alcohol stocks tumbling, as investors digested the potential impact of tariffs on key exports.
Shares of Davide Campari-Milano, the Italian owner of Campari, Aperol, and Wild Turkey, dropped 4.4% by 5.11 p.m. Central European Time.
France’s Pernod Ricard, behind Absolut Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Martell Cognac, dropped 3.85%.
Heineken slid 1.04%, while LVMH, the luxury powerhouse that owns Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, declined 0.70%
