President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from France and elsewhere in the European Union, the latest escalation in the brewing transatlantic trade war. In a social media post today, Trump said he would move forward with the import duties if Brussels follows through with a tax on American whiskey exports.
Shares in European makers of alcoholic beverages fell, with LVMH, which owns champagne houses Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, down as much as 2.2%. Cognac producer Remy Cointreau dropped 4.5% while spirits maker Pernod Ricard declined 3.6%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wants to discuss a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine with US counterpart Donald Trump, though he warned that any truce should lead to a long-term resolution of the war. “The idea itself is correct and we certainly support it, but there are issues that we need to discuss,” Putin said at a Moscow news conference. He spoke ahead of talks planned later today with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, as the US seeks to persuade the Russian leader to join a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it’s ready to accept.
In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. Russian Presidential Press Service
State Street will remain custodian of a 46 billion-franc ($52 billion) Swiss pension hoard after lawmakers narrowly rejected a bid to reassert domestic control as a guard against US strong-arming of the country. The lower house in Bern voted 98-89 in favor of preserving the Boston-based bank’s mandate for the social security funds. The majority dismissed fears that Trump’s administration could order State Street to withhold payments as a bargaining chip to pressure Switzerland.
The chief prosecutor investigating allegations of bribery involving Huawei Technologies has ordered two offices in the European Parliament belonging to assistants to be sealed off. Earlier today, hundreds of police carried out 21 searches across Belgium and Portugal, arresting several people over allegations they were involved in “active corruption.” The offenses were allegedly committed by a criminal organization.”
South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana may have to make changes to the national budget after parties that control more than half the seats in parliament rejected his plans to raise taxes. The National Treasury had proposed hiking value-added tax by 1 percentage point by mid-2026, increasing fuel levies and not adjusting tax brackets to account for inflation. But the ruling coalition is unlikely to splinter despite differences, Standard Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Sim Tshabalala said.
Germany’s Friedrich Merz faced attacks over his credibility as the prospective chancellor seeks to fast-track hundreds of billions of euros in spending. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum took the opportunity to lambaste Merz for seeking to push through a debt-fueled financing package before the new parliament is seated. The conservative leader defended his plans as a necessary response to the weakening transatlantic alliance under Trump.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, during a special debate session at the Bundestag in Berlin. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on Iran’s oil minister, as well as targeting more companies and vessels linked to the “shadow fleet” that Tehran uses to circumvent sanctions. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Mohsen Paknejad to its list of Specially Designated Nationals. Paknejad, who as minister of petroleum “oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export,” according to a Treasury statement.
A southern African bloc is ending a joint military deployment to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where its troops had been supporting the army in its fight against rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda. The Southern African Development Community terminated the mandate of its mission in Congo, and ordered a phased withdrawal, the 16-member grouping said. The SADC’s under-resourced troops had failed to hold back the advancing M23 rebels.
