President Donald Trump has told French President Emmanuel Macron directly that France must scrap its digital services tax on American technology companies, or watch a 100% tariff land on every bottle of wine and champagne it ships to the United States.

The warning, reported by Newsmax, sets up a high-stakes confrontation at the Group of Seven summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, where Trump and Macron are expected to meet face to face. Macron signaled Monday that he has no plans to yield.

The dispute centers on France's digital services tax, a 3% levy on revenue generated inside France by major tech firms including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple. Paris first imposed the tax in 2019. French lawmakers have since considered raising the rate and tightening its aim at the world's largest tech companies. Trump has long argued the tax unfairly targets successful American firms while letting foreign governments pocket the proceeds of U.S. innovation.

Trump's ultimatum, in his own words

In an interview with the New York Post, Trump laid out the terms plainly:

"I asked him not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France."

He added a pointed note about how easily France could resolve the standoff:

"All [Macron] has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn't have that kind of pressure."

The logic is straightforward. France singles out American companies for a revenue tax that no domestic competitor of comparable scale faces. Trump's response targets an export sector where France has enormous exposure. The United States accounts for billions of dollars in annual French wine and champagne exports. A 100% tariff would effectively double the sticker price overnight.

Macron digs in

Macron, speaking Monday before the G7 summit opened, rejected the premise that France would fold under pressure from Washington. Asked whether he would abandon the digital tax, the French president offered a terse reply:

"No, because that is not how it works."

That answer tells you everything about where Paris stands, and where this is headed. Macron frames the tax as sovereign fiscal policy. Trump frames it as a shakedown of American enterprise. Neither man appears inclined to blink.

But Macron's defiance may not reflect the broader trend among U.S. allies. Canada recently shelved its own digital services tax after trade friction with Washington. Italy has reportedly explored repealing its levy. Other nations are reading the room. France, so far, is not.

The White House laid the groundwork months ago

Trump's threat did not come out of nowhere. A February White House directive declared that American businesses would no longer be used to "prop up failed foreign economies through extortive fines and taxes." The administration directed federal agencies to review potential retaliatory measures against countries imposing what it called discriminatory digital taxes on U.S. firms.

That directive signaled a policy shift from review to action. The 100% tariff threat on French wine is the sharpest expression of that shift yet, a specific, named product category, a specific country, and a specific demand.

The targets of France's tax are not obscure startups. They are Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple, four of the most valuable companies on earth, all American. France's 3% levy applies to the revenue those companies generate inside French borders. Critics of the tax, including the Trump administration, argue it was designed to extract money from firms that create products and services French consumers voluntarily use, while shielding European competitors from equivalent burdens.

French wine producers caught in the crossfire

The people with the most to lose are not politicians in Paris or tech executives in Silicon Valley. They are French wine and spirits producers, who are watching the dispute with growing anxiety.

Industry groups have warned that a 100% tariff could severely damage sales. The math is not complicated. If a $20 bottle of Bordeaux suddenly costs $40 at the point of entry, American importers, distributors, and consumers will look elsewhere, to California, to Chile, to Australia, to Italy. France's wine sector depends heavily on the American market. Billions of dollars in annual exports are at stake.

The irony is rich. French lawmakers imposed a tax on American tech companies to raise revenue. The retaliatory tariff would fall hardest on French farmers, vintners, and exporters, people who had nothing to do with the digital tax and no vote on it. That is how trade wars work. The costs rarely land on the people who started the fight.

A pattern of allies backing down

France's position looks increasingly isolated. Canada's decision to shelve its digital services tax came after direct trade pressure from Washington. Italy's reported exploration of repeal suggests Rome sees the writing on the wall. Other nations that adopted or considered similar levies are recalculating.

Macron's refusal to budge may reflect domestic politics more than strategic calculation. Walking back a tax that French lawmakers championed, and may want to expand, would cost him political capital at home. But the alternative is absorbing a tariff that could gut one of France's signature export industries.

Trump, for his part, has made the terms as clear as they can be. No ambiguity. No diplomatic hedging. Drop the tax, or the tariff goes on. The G7 summit will test whether Macron's "no" holds under direct, face-to-face pressure, or whether France joins the growing list of allies who decided the tax was not worth the trade pain.

What comes next

Several questions remain unanswered. No specific timeline has been announced for when the 100% tariff would take effect if France refuses to comply. The White House directive ordered a review of retaliatory options, but the formal process for imposing such a tariff, and whether it would require additional executive action, has not been detailed publicly.

French lawmakers, meanwhile, have not only declined to repeal the digital services tax but have discussed increasing it and narrowing its focus even further toward the largest global tech firms. If Paris moves in that direction while Washington holds the tariff threat in reserve, the confrontation will only sharpen.

The stakes extend beyond wine. The broader principle, whether foreign governments can impose targeted taxes on American companies without consequence, is one the Trump administration has made clear it intends to contest. France is the test case. How it resolves will shape whether other nations try the same approach or think twice.

When a foreign government decides to tax American success, it should not be surprised when America decides to tax what that government sells here. That is not a trade war. That is reciprocity.