U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose 200-percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from France and other European Union countries in retaliation against the bloc's levies on US-produced whiskey.

"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," he posted on his Truth Social platform.

U.S. inflation may have cooled a bit last month but it could be a short reprieve as President Donald Trump's tariffs are widely expected to keep prices elevated in the coming months.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department is expected to report that in February the consumer price index rose 2.9% from a year ago, according to economists surveyed by FactSet. That would be down slightly from 3% in January and the first drop in five months. It fell to a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September.

Stock markets are plunging, consumers and businesses have started to sour on the economy, and economists are marking down their estimates for growth this year, with some even seeing rising odds of a recession.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index slipped into a correction last week, defined as a 10% drop from its most recent peak. The broader S&P 500 neared that level Tuesday.

President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Wednesday, promising that the taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when his seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown.

Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. The U.S. president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging "reciprocal" rates starting on April 2.

Legal consultant Karim Soaid, the brother of ex-MP Fares Soaid, has emerged as the leading candidate for the central bank governor post.

The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%.

The world's biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future.

China wrapped up its biggest political event of the year on Tuesday leaving one question unanswered: How far will it go to try to revive economic growth in 2025?

A recurring theme throughout the weeklong meeting of the nearly 3,000-member National People's Congress was the need to boost investment and consumer spending.

Japan's trade minister said this week that he has failed to win assurances from U.S. officials that the key U.S. ally will be exempt from tariffs, some of which take effect on Wednesday.

Yoji Muto was in Washington for last ditch negotiations over the tariffs on a range of Japanese exports including cars, steel and aluminum.

Japan's has cut its estimate for its economic growth in the last quarter of the year to a 2.2% annual pace from 2.8% as consumer spending hit demand.

The Cabinet Office said Tuesday that Japan's real gross domestic product, which measures the sum value of a nation's goods and services, also was lower due to higher private inventories than earlier reported.

The United States does not appear to want to make a deal with Brussels to avoid hefty tariffs against the EU, the bloc's trade chief said Monday, days before US steel and aluminum levies kick in.

"The US administration does not seem to be engaging to make a deal," said Maros Sefcovic, who travelled to Washington last month in the hopes of reaching an agreement with U.S. officials to avert a trade war.