EU's Sejourne Hopes Bourbon Avoids Tariffs Amid Trump Tensions
PARIS (Reuters) -European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejourne said the European Union's response to U.S. tariffs should be "proportionate" and hoped bourbon will be dropped from a list of U.S. imports that could be slapped with additional tariffs.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, will propose to members late on Monday a list of U.S. products to hit with extra duties in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies.
The 27-nation EU bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars and "reciprocal" tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods.
One product that has received more attention and exposed discord in the bloc is bourbon. The Commission has earmarked a 50% tariff, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% counter-tariff on EU alcoholic drinks if the bloc goes ahead.
Wine exporters France and Italy have both expressed concern.
"For bourbon, I have hopes that this element is taken out of the list. We will see in the coming hours," Sejourne told France Inter radio on Monday.
Sejourne also said the EU had several cards up its sleeve to put pressure on America apart from tariffs, including "withdrawing U.S. companies from our European public markets."
"We need to look at exactly which sectors and why we can do it, but it's one of the subjects on the table," he added.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
