Donald Trump’s latest trade salvo is sending shockwaves through Europe’s wine and spirits industry.  

The U.S. president announced Thursday on Truth Social that his administration would impose a 200% tariff on European wines, champagnes, and other alcoholic products unless the European Union removes a 50% tariff on American whiskey.  

The move sent shares of major European beverage companies tumbling, while U.S. spirits makers saw a boost. 

The U.S. market for European alcohol: Key trade figures

American consumers have long been major buyers of high-end European wines and spirits, and tariffs of this scale could make many imports prohibitively expensive. 

The United States is a critical export destination for European alcohol producers, having imported €13.1 billion worth of beverage, spirit, and vinegar products from the EU in 2024, according to the International Trade Centre.

Among these, €5.2 billion came from wine, with the U.S. accounting for nearly 20% of the EU’s total wine exports.  

The spirits and liqueurs sector is even more exposed, with €5.1 billion in shipments to the U.S. last year—22% of the bloc’s total exports in this category. 

European beer exports are less reliant on U.S. demand, with the EU shipping €1.1 billion worth of beer to the U.S. last year—around 12% of its total beer 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 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 wrote on Truth Social.  

“This will be great for the wine and champagne businesses in the U.S.” 

In 2018, the EU initially imposed a 25% tariff on American whiskey in response to U.S. tariffs on European metals, leading to a sharp decline in U.S. whiskey exports to Europe.  

While these tariffs were suspended in 2021, the U.S. recently decided to reintroduce duties on European steel and aluminum, prompting the EU to reinstate and double its tariff on American whiskey to 50%, effective April 1, 2025. 

Stock market reactions

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 4.2% by 3:00 p.m. Central European Time.  

France’s Pernod Ricard, behind Absolut Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Martell Cognac, dropped 3.9%. 

Dutch brewing giant Heineken slid 0.6%, while LVMH, the luxury powerhouse that owns Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, declined 1.4%. 

While European stocks took a hit, American distillers gained. Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel’s, rose 2.1%, reflecting expectations that Trump’s pressure could lead to the removal of EU tariffs on American whiskey—a move that would reopen European markets to U.S. producers.