Jan. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump early Tuesday threatened to impose a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne in an effort to pressure France to join his intergovernmental Board of Peace organization.
Trump made the comments early Tuesday to reporters at Palm Beach International Airport before boarding Air Force One to take him to Washington, D.C.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join,” Trump said, referring to President Emmanuel Macron of France, who is reportedly not planning to accept his offer to join the U.S.-led Board of Peace.
The Board of Peace is a U.S.-led intergovernmental organization proposed by Trump in connection with his Gaza cease-fire plan, which was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in a resolution related to its Gaza peace mandate.
Though initially conceived as a mechanism to establish peace in Gaza, the charter now makes no mention of the Palestinian enclave, suggesting it may have larger ambitions to address global conflicts, The New York Times reported. The Times also reported that the United States is asking participating countries to pay more than $1 billion to join the board.
Several countries have already accepted Trump’s invitation, including Hungary, Vietnam and Morocco.
Trump told reporters early Tuesday that he has invited Russia, led by authoritarian President Vladimir Putin.
When asked about Macron reportedly turning aside his invite, Trump responded with an insult: “Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon.”
France is to hold presidential elections next spring, with Macron ineligible to run again due to the country’s constitutional two-term limit.
Trump frequently uses tariffs as a bargaining tool, employing the economic measures as a negotiation tactic. However, those he has imposed during his second term have been challenged in court, as Congress constitutionally controls the nation’s taxing authority.
He recently announced a 10% tariff on goods from several European nations, including France, over their opposition to his plan to seize Greenland from Denmark.
Trump later Tuesday posted online what he said was the text of a message Macron had sent him seeking to arrange a dinner in Paris on Thursday while he is in Europe for the World Economic Forum, running Monday through Friday.
“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron wrote, according to Trump.