By
Reuters
Printed
January 17, 2025
French cognac makers elevated shipments to the USA in December, commerce knowledge confirmed, as distributors refill their shares to arrange for attainable new tariffs whereas demand within the nation reveals indicators of enchancment.
LVMH
France’s cognac trade is especially uncovered to the U.S. market, its largest by quantity, and recollections of a commerce dispute in President-elect Donald Trump’s first time period sparked fears it may return.
LVMH’s Hennessy, the most important producer, elevated the quantity of cognac it delivered by 17% in contrast with final month and by greater than a 3rd when in comparison with the identical month the 12 months earlier than, U.S. import information from ImportYeti confirmed.
Campari-owned Courvoisier greater than doubled its exports to the nation in December from each the earlier month and the identical month final 12 months.
Hennessy declined to remark whereas Campari didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.
The info was a part of a wider sample of elevated U.S. cognac exports on the finish of 2024, an trade supply stated on Friday, pushed by the prospect of extra tariffs beneath incoming President Donald Trump and a normal market enchancment.
Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board tariffs of 10% on foreign-made items in a bid to remove the nation’s commerce deficit. Europe’s spirits trade may very well be hit even more durable by attainable extra retaliatory measures ought to an previous commerce dispute between the U.S. and the European Union from Trump’s first presidential time period flare up.
In the meantime, demand for luxurious items within the U.S. confirmed indicators of enchancment.
U.S. bank card spending on luxurious manufacturers in December turned constructive for the primary time in additional than two years, whereas Swiss jewelry and watchmaker Richemont reported robust U.S. gross sales within the final quarter of 2024.
Barclays analysts additionally flagged a constructive development, saying in a latest notice that LVMH’s wines and spirits division has “started to see some improvement for Hennessy in the US.”
France’s cognac trade was hit in 2024 by weak international demand and commerce tensions with China, one other main market.
Cognac exports to China dropped by 75% in December in contrast with final 12 months, the trade supply stated, including {that a} latest ban of cognac merchandise from all duty-free gross sales factors additionally weighed.
© Thomson Reuters 2025 All rights reserved.
