G7 LEADERS MEET IN CANADA AMID TRUMP'S TARIFF THREATS

Top diplomats from the Group of 7 industrialised democracies gathered in Canada on Thursday, as US President Donald Trump's trade and foreign policies strain the bloc's once-solid unity.

- Agencies

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from France and elsewhere in the European Union, the latest escalation in a brewing transatlantic trade war.

The president in a social media post, on Thursday, said that he would move forward with the import duties if Brussels follows through with a tax on American whiskey exports, a measure aimed at retaliating against Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs that went into effect on Wednesday.

"If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER EU REPRESENTED COUNTRIES," Trump said about the pending levies on bourbon. "This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the US."

Shares in European makers of alcoholic beverages fell, with LVMH, which owns champagne houses Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, down as much as 2.2%. Cognac producer Remy Cointreau SA dropped 4.5% and spirits maker Pernod Ricard declined 3.6%.