Trump threatens – Ahead of the G7 in France, Donald Trump is once again pressing France over its three percent digital tax on US tech companies, warning that if it’s not removed he will impose a 100 percent tariff on all champagnes and wines coming out of France.
When Donald Trump’s threat landed. it wasn’t aimed at a distant policy memo—it pointed straight at French shelves. Ahead of the G7 conference in France. the US President is revisiting the country’s three percent digital tax on US tech companies from his first administration. and this time he’s tying it to what he calls a blunt trade hammer: wine.
“I asked [French President Emmanuel Macron] not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100 percent tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France,” Trump told The New York Post.
The message is likely to catch the French government and parts of the wine industry off guard. Sources close to Macron had recently said the issue “was no longer up for debate,” according to the Post—an indication that officials may have believed the fight had moved past the political stage.
That assumption may be tested soon. The digital tax itself—France’s “GAFAM” tax on Google. Apple. Facebook. Amazon and Microsoft—was imposed in 2019 as part of a deal with the first Trump administration. It is charged on gross revenue. not net revenue earned by those tech giants. and it takes in around $700 million per year in revenue.
France’s wine and champagne exports to the US are worth at least $2 billion. So if Trump’s tariff threat turned into an actual levy, the impact would be far more than symbolic—hitting a sector that sells its image as much as its product.
The pressure is coming at a sensitive moment inside France, too. France’s lower house recently voted to double the digital tax to six percent. but the move was vetoed by ministers over the risk of US reprisals. Even dropping or eliminating the tax would carry a political cost at home: the article notes that a large chunk of voters in France are concerned about a dependence on US tech.
One paragraph in the story tells a larger truth without needing extra flourish: France has built the digital tax into its economic stance toward big tech. while the US President has treated digital levies as targets for escalation. Trump’s threats fit that pattern—using tariffs to force nations to remove digital taxes and levies. while expanding the pressure to other disputes involving social media bans and the use of news media in search results.
The timing adds another layer of friction. Canada repealed its digital tax in 2025 following pressure from the Trump administration. The UK has resisted that kind of reversal, and has retained its own two percent digital services tax.
Back in Washington, the threat itself may not be the only question. The piece describes Trump as increasingly viewed as an “attack dog for big tech. ” and it also frames his approach as familiar—tariff threats sometimes used as leverage to extract concessions. The latest warning could end up being another high-stakes show designed to shift the bargaining position before leaders sit down.
Even so, the target is specific enough to raise real concern. If the wine tariff were applied. the story notes it could be quickly challenged in a trade court like Trump’s previous tariffs. Still. it is hard to ignore what comes next: at minimum. the threat is almost guaranteed to trigger one or more sit-down sessions between US and French heads of state—especially with the G7 conference looming.
Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron digital tax France GAFAM tax tariffs wine industry champagne G7 US tech companies
100% tariff on wine is wild.
So wait they’re taxing Google and Facebook, and then punishing France’s wine too? That seems kinda backwards but I guess trade wars don’t care.
Isn’t this just like… a Trump thing to get attention before G7? Like wine tariffs are probably just theater. France will cave eventually, they always do. Also 3% digital tax sounds small though so 100% seems crazy.
I don’t even know how a digital tax turns into champagne on a shelf. Like my uncle says tariffs always just get paid by regular people, so guess I’m supposed to pay 100% more for Dom Perignon?? Also the article says it was part of a deal in 2019, so why act like France randomly invented it yesterday? Makes no sense but I’m not surprised.