Trump’s trade war: EU threatened with 200% alcohol tariffs

Donald Trump has threatened the EU with alcohol tariffs after it announced a string of countermeasures against the US earlier this week. What do the latest tariff announcements mean for markets and the economy?

Summary

  • The global trade spat is heating up. In the latest move today (13 March), US president Donald Trump threatened the European Union (EU) with 200% tariffs on alcohol imports.
  • It comes after the EU announced a series of countermeasures against the US on 12 March, impacting up to €26 billion worth of US goods.
  • The EU's countermeasures were a response to the 25% steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the US earlier this week. These metal tariffs were announced in February but kicked in on 12 March.
  • America's steel and aluminium tariffs apply to all countries, not just the EU. Canada has also responded with measures impacting C$29.8 billion worth of US goods.
  • Markets could be in for another volatile few days after an already-tense period. Last week, tariffs of 25% briefly kicked in for all Canadian and Mexican goods (4 March) before broad exemptions were granted two days later (6 March).
  • Trump also doubled the levy on Chinese goods from 10% to 20% last week (4 March).
  • Global stock markets have taken a downturn in recent weeks in response to Trump’s erratic trade policy, with US markets bearing the brunt.
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Good Wednesday afternoon. Welcome to MoneyWeek’s new live blog on US president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Markets rally on hope of a rollback in policy

What do tariffs mean for the global economy?

Tariffs: a recap of everything the US has announced so far

Retaliatory tariffs

A "toxic" trade environment

The death of the “Trump trade”?

Early warning signs in the US economy?

How concerned are you about the impact of tariffs?

Tariff exemption for carmakers

What’s behind the carmaker exemption?

US carmakers rally on tariff exemption

Trump suspends tariffs on Mexico

Trump describes relationship with Sheinbaum as "very good"

No mention of a pause for Canada

That concludes our live coverage for today, but we will be back tomorrow with further updates and analysis. Thank you for joining us.

Good morning and welcome back to our tariff live blog. In the time since we signed off yesterday evening, Trump has also rolled back tariffs on a large number of Canadian goods. Stick with us for full details and analysis on what it means for markets and the economy.

Canadian goods shipped under existing free-trade pact will be exempt from tariffs

Policy rollback does little to boost markets

How has the S&P 500 performed since markets opened today?

As we sign off for the weekend, we will leave you with one positive. This week's tariff disruption could create opportunities for investors to snap up companies that are well-positioned to weather the storm – and at a lower price.

The EU bites back

Von der Leyen: countermeasures are “strong but proportionate”

What does it mean for markets?

Canada to impose 25% reciprocal tariff tomorrow

UK still hoping for a trade deal

US inflation: some good news

Valuation opportunities?

Trump reaches for the bottle in latest tariff threats

How have stock markets responded?

Alcohol tariffs "clearly a negative" for consumers and industry