Who’s next? In a matter of minutes, Donald Trump’s message made the rounds through the French beauty products industry. On Thursday, March 13, on his Truth Social platform, the US president threatened to “shortly place a 200% tariff on all wines, champagnes and alcoholic products coming out of France and other EU represented countries” if Brussels did not withdraw its plan to tax American whiskey imported into Europe at 50%.
SpiritsEurope, which defends the interests of major producers such as Diageo and the whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s Brown-Forman on both sides of the Atlantic, had specifically warned of the “devastating consequences” of the Brussels measure unveiled on Wednesday, March 12, in response to the 25% tariffs introduced the same day on steel and aluminum imports into the US from Europe. It was right.
Will the European beauty products industry also be in Trump’s crosshairs? The Fédération des Entreprises de la Beauté (FEBEA) is worried about being another “collateral victim” of this trade war, explained its general delegate, Emmanuel Guichard. The list of American products that the European Union is considering taxing also includes make-up products and essential oils. Brussels has reactivated a list already drawn up in May 2018 in response to tax measures on European steel and aluminum.
You have 49.75% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
