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.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose a 200% tariff on all wines and other alcoholic products from the EU if the bloc does not scrap its planned tax on U.S. bourbon.
“Have some missteps been made? Yes, probably, because Kentucky bourbon has been included as if it were a trade threat,” Bayrou said of the EU’s proposed tariffs in response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminium.
“A very old (product) list has been retrieved without it being checked like it should have been,” he told France Inter radio.
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