President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the United States would impose a 100 percent tariff on French wines and champagnes unless Paris eliminates its digital services tax on American technology companies, escalating trade tensions just as he arrived in France for the G7 summit.
In an interview with the New York Post published ahead of the summit, Trump said he had asked French President Emmanuel Macron to stop taxing American firms, warning that if France proceeds, he will have no alternative but to implement a 100 percent tariff on all champagnes and wines imported from France. He suggested the pressure would ease if Macron simply eliminated the tax.
The threat is not new terrain. In January, Trump warned of 200 percent tariffs on French wine to pressure Macron into joining his "Board of Peace" initiative on Gaza. And during his first term in 2019, his administration proposed tariffs of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion worth of French goods, including wine, cheese, and handbags, after a U.S. Trade Representative investigation concluded that France's digital services tax discriminated against American companies.
The warning lands as the 52nd G7 summit opens in Evian-les-Bains, France. French officials had already scaled back their ambitions for the gathering, abandoning plans for a comprehensive final communique in favor of narrower joint statements on topics such as critical minerals, migration, and drug trafficking, and Trump is reportedly expecting a chilly reception among European counterparts.
France's digital services tax, first enacted in 2019, levies a 3 percent charge on revenues generated in France by large technology firms, predominantly American companies such as Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon. Paris has long argued the tax addresses a gap in international rules that allows tech giants to earn substantial revenue in countries where they pay little corporate tax. By tying punitive wine tariffs to repeal of the tax, Trump places one of France's most iconic exports at the center of a long-running dispute, setting a combative tone for the days ahead and renewed uncertainty for French exporters and U.S. importers.