US President Donald Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on alcohol from EU countries – he was responding to the bloc's plan to impose a 50% tariff on US whiskey, a move which itself came in retaliation to Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs

President Donald Trump on Thursday stood firm on his tariff policy, hours after threatening to escalate a global trade war with a 200% tariff on champagne and other alcohol products from the European Union.

President Trump said he would impose a 200% tariff on U.S. imports of wine, Champagne and other alcoholic beverages from the bloc.

US President Donald Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on any wine or alcoholic drinks coming in to the US from the EU, if the bloc does not remove its tariff on US whiskey. It comes after the EU said it would impose a levy on US-produced whiskey as part of its counter-tariffs in response to US tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.

The European Union was probably mistaken in targeting American whiskey in its riposte to U.S. tariffs, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Sunday, calling for talks to avoid more damaging duties on France's cognac industry.

President Trump’s threat of a 200% tariff on European wine collides with Champagne makers’ resistance to uproot from France.

The United States is the biggest export market for champagne, made exclusively in its home region in eastern France.