French winemakers jittery over Trump tariff threats ahead of G7

French winegrowers are on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether Donald Trump will follow through with his repeated threats to raise tariffs on French wine in retaliation for the new GAFA tax.

As the leaders of the world's richest countries gather for the G7 opening Saturday, winegrowers in host nation France fear they will have to suffer consequences from the new French tax on the US tech giants.

Representatives of the GAFA corporations -- Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon -- on Monday railed against the tax aimed at plugging a loophole that allows the firms to pay next to nothing in countries where they make huge profits.

They called the tax "discriminatory" and a "troubling precedent".

Meanwhile, while President Trump has repeatedly warned of retaliation, on August 9 suggesting a 100 per cent tax on French wine imports to the United States, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

Trump, though a teetotaller, had tweeted in late July that "American wine is better than French wine!"
Will Americans -- who bought USD1.8 billion worth of French wines and spirits last year -- be willing to pay double for their favourite Cotes du Rhone?
"Wine cannot be held hostage in an international trade negotiation."
"France charges us a lot for the wine and yet we charge them little," the US president told CNBC in June, adding: "And you know what, it's not fair. We'll do something about it."
But he said he remains "confident" because "American consumers like champagne." In the southwestern Cognac region -- which exports nearly half of its production to the United States -- one industry figure said business leaders were "vigilant" but "nothing is confirmed."