As America and China sharpen the knives over a simmering trade war that threatens to engulf the European Union, a famed French tipple faces being caught in the crossfire: cognac.

Spirits are anything but high in the southwestern French appellation, which covers almost 185,000 acres and is the biggest white-grape vineyard in Europe. The Gallic brandy’s two main markets are China and the US – the first by value, the second by volume.

Producers and unions say they risk being made “scapegoats” by both countries and hit with punitive tariffs that could prove catastrophic for the industry. On the one hand from China as it retaliates against European Union (EU) duties, and on the other from President Trump in his protectionist drive.

“From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly,” Mr Trump told the World Economic Forum earlier this year.

Cognac exports amount to €3.35 billion (£2.79 billion), 98 per cent of its total business so unlike wine, the industry cannot fall back on patriotic French drinkers to keep it afloat.

As a result, tempers have flared in recent months with a strike by workers scared that big cognac houses could offshore bottling to circumvent tariff hikes.