The United States is suddenly looking less bubbly for European wines.

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. Wine sellers and importers said a tariff of that size would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S.

“I don’t think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne,” Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mt. Laurel Township, New Jersey, said.

Jeff Zacharia, president of fine wine retailer Zachys in Port Chester, New York, said 80% of the wine he sells is from Europe. Importers depend on European wines for a big part of their distribution system, he said, and there’s not enough U.S. wine to make up for that.

“This is just going to have a major negative impact on the whole U.S. wine industry in all aspects of it, including U.S. wineries,” he said.

Zacharia said there are so many unknowns right now he’s stopped buying European wine until the picture becomes clearer.

“It’s very hard to make preparations when as a business you don’t have a clear path forward,” he said. “Our preparations would be very different if it’s 200% compared to 100% compared to 10%.”

Wine and spirits from the 27-nation European Union made up 17% of the total consumed in the U.S. in 2023, according to IWSR, a global data and insight provider specializing in alcohol. Of that 17%, Italy accounted for 7% — mostly from wine – and French wine, cognac and vodka accounted for 5%.

Overall, the U.S. imports much more alcohol than it exports. The $26.6 billion worth of foreign-produced alcoholic beverages that entered the country in 2022 accounted for 14% percent of all U.S. agricultural imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. exported $3.9 billion worth of beer, wine and distilled spirits that year.

Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR U.S., said a 200% tariff would not be unprecedented but import duties of that size tend to be more targeted.

In 2020, China imposed tariffs as high as 218% on Australian wine, which caused exports to plunge by 90%, Lodewijks said. China lifted the tariffs last year, but by then Australia’s wine industry had taken a big hit. Australia’s wine trade to China was worth 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($710 million) annually before the tariffs were put in place.

Europe’s tax on American whiskey, which was unveiled in response to the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs, is expected to go into effect on April 1. Trump responded Thursday in a social media post.

“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump wrote. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.”

Trump was incorrect about the Champagne business. Champagne is a legally protected wine that can only come from France’s Champagne region. But U.S. winemakers — including Trump Winery, a Virginia winery owned by the president’s son Eric Trump — do make sparkling wine.

Reaction from across the Atlantic was swift Thursday.

“We must stop a dangerous escalation that is leading to a global trade war where the first victims will be U.S. citizens who will pay more for products, and with them, farmers,’’ Ettore Prandini, president of Italy’s Coldiretti agriculture lobby, said.

Italian wine exports to the U.S. – led by prosecco — have tripled in value over the last 20 years and reached 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) last year. In France, the U.S. market for wines and spirits is worth 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) annually.

Gabriel Picard, who heads the French Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits, said 200% tariffs would be “a hammer blow” for France’s alcohol export industry, impacting hundreds of thousands of people.

“Not a single bottle will continue to be expedited if 200% tariffs are applied to our products. All exports to the United States will come to a total, total, halt,” Picard said in an interview with The Associated Press.

French transporter Grain de Sail, which uses sail power to ship wines and other goods across the Atlantic, said Thursday that some winemakers had already cancelled planned shipments of wine to the U.S. because they were anticipating tariffs even before Trump’s announcement.

“It has more or less frozen exports. There’s no point even hoping to send wine to the United States under these conditions,” said Jacques Barreau, the firm’s co-founder.

Some U.S. wine stores saw an opportunity Thursday. In Washington, the wine bar Cork announced a tariff sale, encouraging regulars to come stock up on their favorite wines while they’re still affordable.

Others wondered aloud whether Trump would really go through with a 200% tariff.

“It changes by the hour now, right?” Mark O’Callaghan, the founder of Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, said. European wines make up around 35% of sales at his store, he said.

Others seemed to want to stay out of the fray. Total Wine, which operates 279 stores in 29 U.S. states, didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, one of the country’s largest alcohol distributors, also didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Twelve people were taken to hospitals after an American Airlines plane landed at Denver International Airport on Thursday and caught fire, prompting slides to be deployed so passengers could evacuate quickly.

All of the people transported to hospitals had minor injuries, according to a post on the social platform X by Denver International Airport.

Flight 1006, which was headed from the Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas Fort Worth, diverted to Denver and landed safely around 5:15 p.m. after the crew reported engine vibrations, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

While taxiing to the gate, an engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught fire, the FAA added.

Photos and videos posted by news outlets showed passengers standing on a plane’s wing as smoke surrounded the aircraft. The FAA said passengers exited using the slides.

American said in a statement that the flight experienced an engine-related issue after taxiing to the gate. There was no immediate clarification on exactly when the plane caught fire.

The 172 passengers and six crew members were taken to the terminal, airline officials said.

“We thank our crew members, DEN team and first responders for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority,” American said.

Firefighters put out the blaze by the evening, an airport spokesperson told media outlets.

The FAA said it will investigate.

The country has seen a recent spate of aviation disasters and close calls stoking fears about air travel, though flying remains a very safe mode of transport.

Recent on-the-ground incidents have included a plane that crashed and flipped over upon landing in Toronto and a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a parked Delta plane while it was taxiing at the Seattle airport.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

The CEO of one of Thailand’s leading conglomerates is keeping her “eyes and ears open” on changes to U.S. trade policy—and expects that Thai exports to the U.S. won’t escape new tariffs from the Trump administration. 

Currently, the Trump administration has slapped tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, as well as blanket taxes on steel and aluminum imports. The duties are in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to tax imports on countries that he believes are treating the U.S. unfairly. 

The next important date is April 2, when the Trump administration will impose reciprocal tariffs on a country-by-country basis. 

Thapanee Techajareonvikul, CEO of Thai conglomerate Berli Jucker, in an interview with Fortune on Wednesday, said she expects the U.S. President will impose tariffs on Thai exports. “We will face a little,” Thapanee predicted.

In spite of the two countries’ good relations, Thapanee pointed to Thailand’s trade surplus with the U.S. as a reason why tariffs may be unavoidable.

Thailand’s trade surplus with the U.S. totaled $45 billion last year, according to U.S. government data. That’s modest compared to other economies in Southeast Asia: Vietnam, which has benefited from shifting supply chains, enjoys a trade surplus of $123.5 billion with the U.S.

In a conversation with Fortune on Wednesday, Thapanee admitted that her business, which covers everything from glass bottles and aluminium cans to food and personal care products, will need to navigate U.S. tariffs, if they come into effect. “Our snack factory produces for the U.S. market,” she explained, adding that Berli Jucker also plans to exports glass bottles to the U.S. this year.

She suggested Berli Jucker will expand into more markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as a way to mitigate any new U.S. tariffs. 

But uncertainty reigns when it comes to Trump’s trade policy, with new tariffs proposed and then suspended, sometimes within the same day. 

Thapannee said she’s keeping her “eyes and ears open” for news out of Washington. 

Thailand’s private sector is urging Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to start talks with the Trump administration. On Thursday, Paetongtarn met with representatives of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking. The private sector group proposed that Thailand import more from the U.S. while lowering its tariffs in order to reduce the country’s trade surplus, according to Reuters.

Even if Thailand escapes tariffs, a U.S. trade war will still have significant effects on Southeast Asian businesses, whether by distorting exchange rates or changing raw material prices. For example, Trump’s 2018 tariffs on aluminum led to a global increase in prices of the metal in the months that followed.

Tariffs on China are also likely to further encourage Chinese manufacturers to diversify their supply chains, in the hope of avoiding U.S. tariffs. During Trump’s first term, global manufacturers moved their factories to countries like Vietnam and Mexico. 

“With the U.S. policy, I think a lot more Chinese manufacturers will come to invest in Thailand, to have production in Thailand, so they can send to the U.S.,” Thapanee predicted. She worries a continued influx of Chinese manufacturers going global, who can sometimes offer products more cheaply, might put pressure on Thai firms.

Governments are worried about a flood of cheap Chinese imports disrupting their economies. Vietnam and South Korea both imposed provisional tariffs on Chinese steel panels in February. HSBC warned in February that a “tariff cascade” could be dangerous for China, given its reliance on external trade as a way to prop up the economy.

Berli Jucker’s 2024

Thapanee isn’t just keeping her “eyes and ears open” for news on tariffs. She’s also paying attention to Thailand’s aging population and an economy that’s still recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

Despite those headwinds, Berli Jucker had a good 2024, a result that Thapanee said she was pleased with. 

The Thai conglomerate reported revenue of 171 billion Thai baht ($5.1 billion) in 2024, up 1.7% from a year before. Gross profit came in at 32 billion baht ($950 million) with a profit margin of 20.3%, the company’s highest ever since it acquired the retail chain Big C in 2016. Operating profit came in at 13 billion baht ($385 million)

Thapanee said the higher profit margins were driven by investments in renewable energy and technology that reduced cost at its factories. The company also entered premium segments of the market to fend off Chinese competition, such as selling three-ply tissue paper rather than try to match Chinese sellers on price. 

She also noted that Berli Jucker is hoping to make glass bottles for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Brands are “confirmed,” though she declined to share names.

Berli Jucker, ranked no. 79 on Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500, is a diversified conglomerate that has businesses in manufacturing, healthcare, and retail.

Berli Jucker also owns the hypermarket Big C, which operates in four markets in Southeast Asia, as well as the Chinese city of Hong Kong. (Thapanee’s husband, Aswin Techajareonvikul, is the CEO of Big C. He was also previously the CEO of Berli Jucker).

In 2023, Big C said it was considering a plan to pursue a dual listing in both Bangkok and Hong Kong, confirming earlier reports that the supermarket chain hoped to raise $1 billion through an IPO. A month later, the company delayed those plans, citing a wish to wait for better economic conditions.

During an interview with Fortune last October, Thapanee said an IPO could be possible in 2025 if market conditions were right. Yet on Wednesday, she said Berli Jucker is, for now, not moving forward on its plan to list Big C. 

“If you see the stock market of Thailand, it’s very disappointing. We won’t be expecting [to list] anytime soon,” she said. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com