Redacción Aquí Europa
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, expressed his concern this Thursday regarding US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 200% tariff on all wines and alcoholic products from the European Union. However, Planas clarified that for now, this is merely an “announcement,” like others Trump has made since coming to power, and that it has not yet materialized.
The minister emphasized that both the Spanish government and the European Commission will remain “calm, but also firm” in the face of this threat. He recalled that, in response to the imposition of US tariffs on steel and aluminum, the European Commission responded quickly with measures that included tariffs worth €8 billion.
“This is not a good path (…). It’s very bad to have agricultural products be the subject of a trade battle,” Planas stated before participating in the Congressional Agriculture Committee, where he was to report on the National Food Strategy.
The Agriculture Minister also highlighted the negative effects of turning agricultural products into a trade battleground, as it would directly affect the cost of food baskets and family finances. “When food inflation rises, citizens and families are obviously not happy,” he noted.
Trump
US President Donald Trump announced this Thursday, on his Truth Social network, his intention to impose 200% tariffs on wine, champagne, and other alcoholic beverages within the EU.
Trump made this threat, arguing that he will implement these tariffs if EU countries do not immediately withdraw the announced 50% tax on American whiskey.
The US president has described the EU as “one of the most hostile and abusive tariff authorities in the world,” created with “the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.”
Therefore, Trump has warned that if the EU does not “immediately” eliminate the 50% tariff on whiskey from the US, he will soon impose a 200% tariff “on all wines, champagnes, and alcoholic products from France and other countries represented by the EU.” “This will greatly benefit the wine and champagne industry in the United States,” Trump asserted.
The European Union announced on Wednesday that it will impose tariffs worth up to €26 billion on a wide range of products from the United States starting next April in response to the “unjustified” 25% tariffs that the new Trump administration has imposed on European steel and aluminum imports starting Wednesday.
