Donald Trump said “American wine is better than French” as he vowed to retaliate after the country put a new tax on US businesses.
The US leader hit out at France after it adopted the pioneering tax on internet giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook.
Mr Trump, who does not drink, tweeted: "I've always said American wine is better than French wine!"
The tax primarily targets companies that use consumer data to sell online advertising and Mr Trump said that if anybody taxes American technology companies, it should be their home country.
Taking a shot at French President Emmanuel Macron, he added: "We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron's foolishness shortly."
The tax is designed to stop multinationals from avoiding taxes by setting up headquarters in low-tax EU countries.
Currently the companies pay nearly no tax in countries where they have significant sales.
The French law does not specifically target US companies, it targets any digital company with yearly global sales worth more than 750 million euros (£674 million) and French revenue exceeding 25 million euros (£22.5 million).
This revenue threshold is supposed to allow more room for smaller companies to enter the market.
However, the Trump administration emphasises the services covered under the tax are ones in which US firms are global leaders and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer initiated an investigation earlier this month to determine whether the tax is discriminatory or unreasonable.
Such a finding would allow Mr Trump to levy retaliatory tariffs.
"The Trump Administration has consistently stated that it will not sit idly by and tolerate discrimination against US-based firms," said White House spokesman Judd Deere.
The digital tax has also riled Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to explore increasing taxes on French subsidiaries in the US.
France failed to persuade European Union partners to impose a Europe-wide tax on tech giants.
However, it is now pushing for an international deal with the 34 countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Additional reporting by agencies.
