The European Union was probably mistaken in targeting American whiskey in its riposte to US tariffs, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said, calling for talks to avoid more damaging duties on France's cognac industry.
Last week, US President Donald Trump 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 US 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 US 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.
European Producers Dismayed
Trump's threat against EU wine and spirits has caused dismay among European producers who rely on exports, including French cognac makers already hit with tariffs by Beijing in a separate row over EU duties on Chinese electric cars.
Bayrou, who met representatives of the cognac industry on Friday, said he hoped talks with Washington and Beijing would resolve the tariff dispute.
The EU's first round of counter-tariffs against US goods including bourbon is due to take effect on 1 April. Bayrou, meanwhile, is expected to visit China to discuss the cognac issue but no dates have been announced.
Elsewhere, spiritsEUROPE, the representative body for the spirit industry on a European level, said it was 'deeply alarmed' by the renewed threat of tariffs on EU and US spirits, and added that it is part of an entirely unrelated dispute over duties on steel and aluminium.
