Wine and cheese producers in France warn that President Donald Trump’s proposed 30% tariffs on European imports will have a damaging impact on the country’s agricultural industry.
Trump announced last week that his administration will impose a 30% tariff on goods from members of the European Union (EU) beginning on Aug. 1, citing trade deficits and national security concerns.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump claimed the EU’s policies caused “large and unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States,” adding that the imbalance also poses a major national security threat.
The president also warned that any retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU would be matched and added to the 30% base rate.
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Jean-Francois Loiseau, the president of the Association Nationale des Industries Alimentaires (ANIA) told Reuters that a 30% tariff would be “disastrous” for the food industry in France.
Also speaking to Reuters was Francois Xavier Huard, the CEO of dairy association FNIL, who said, “It’s a real shock for milk and cheese producers – this is an important market for us.”
“It’s a new environment we will have to get used to – I don’t think this is temporary,” he told Reuters on Sunday while speaking about trade tensions and shifting rules.
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Huard said industry leaders may need to rethink strategies for markets they operate in.
The tariffs could affect the French dairy sector, which exports nearly half of the dairy it produces, including to the U.S., which imports butter and yogurt, but mainly cheeses like Brie.
If changes are not made, the French food exporters could lose tens of millions of euros each year, according to Huard.
He noted that the French sector sells about $409 million (or 350 million euros) in dairy products to the U.S. annually.
Food exporters in France worry about additional import taxes pushing the prices of their products out of reach for shoppers strapped for money in the U.S. due to inflation.
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“Products like wine, especially, are consumed for pleasure -if you have less money to spend, you might forgo the purchase,” National Center for the Promotion of Agricultural and Food Products (CNPA) president Yannick Fialip told Reuters.
“We will be less competitive,” Fialip added, noting a weaker dollar had already added pressure on exports to the U.S.
After learning about Trump’s 30% tariff, von der Leyen responded in a post on X, warning that the tariffs would negatively impact both economies but expressed willingness to continue negotiations.
“A 30% tariff on EU exports would hurt businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic,” von der Leyen said. “We will continue working towards an agreement by August 1. At the same time, we are ready to safeguard EU interests on the basis of proportionate countermeasures.”
In a separate statement on American-EU trade, von der Leyen said she will continue to deepen global partnerships “firmly anchored in the principles of rules-based international trade.”
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and Reuters contributed to this report.
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