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Bottles of Champagne are seen on display for sale in a wine shop in Paris, France, on March 13, 2025.

REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Opinion: Tariffs bring a bitter aftertaste to Europe

The party ended abruptly last week, and the last bottle of European champagne may have popped.

After President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, US allies quickly announced countermeasures. This included a European Union plan to introduce 50% tariffs on US whiskey. Further accelerating any impending trade war, Trump responded by threatening a 200% tariff on all EU wines, champagnes, and alcoholic products. In the words of former President Thomas Jefferson as interpreted by Lin-Manuel Miranda in “Hamilton,” “Look, when Britain taxed our tea, we got frisky. Imagine what gon’ happen when you try to tax our whiskey.”

European leaders caught between the rock of needing Trump to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine (while they aim to beef up collective defense) and the hard place of fearing economic contraction from US tariffs are quickly realizing that nobody is having fun anymore.

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