LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault has welcomed an agreement between the EU and the US on trade tariffs.
Writing in the French daily business newspaper, Les Echos, the boss of the French luxury conglomerate acknowledged criticism of the deal, but said that it was a good agreement in the current context.
“The agreement reached between the European Union and the United States has attracted criticism,” he said in the opinion piece published on Wednesday (30 July).
“It is considered asymmetrical, defensive, and sometimes insufficient. I understand these reservations.
“However, I want to reiterate here, as the head of a European company, that an impasse had to be avoided.
“This agreement is an act of responsibility. In the current context, it is a good agreement.”
LVMH owns Les Echos along with a host of beauty and fragrance brands such as Benefit, Rhianna’s Fenty Beauty and Guerlain, as well as beauty retailer Sephora.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump agreed on a 15% tariff on most goods entering the country from the EU on Sunday (27 July).
Trump had threatened levies as high as 30%.
However, the deal has been criticised by some European country leaders, including French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Responding to the deal on X (formerly Twitter), Bayrou said: “It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submit.”
At a press conference in Berlin after the deal was announced, Merz said: "I am not satisfied with this result in the sense of: 'This is good.'
“But I do say that, given the starting point we had with the United States, more simply was notsn’t achievable.”
The agreement is due to apply from August 1 and is subject to approval by the 27 EU member states.
Von der Leyen said the deal “creates certainty in uncertain times” and “delivers stability and predictability, for citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic”.
The Federation of Beauty Companies (FEBEA) trade group called the deal “a relief” but added “it is not a good deal for the French cosmetics industry”.
“French cosmetic products, which were previously exempt from customs duties (0%), will now be taxed at a rate of 15% for exports to the United States,” said Emmanuel Guichard, General Delegate of the FEBEA.
“While this agreement puts an end to uncertainty, it poses a significant threat to the competitiveness of the French cosmetics industry.”
The group estimates that the deal could result in a $300m annual loss for the industry and puts 5,000 jobs in the country at risk.
The cosmetics industry in France was worth €3bn in exports in 2024, accounting for 12% of all exports from the country, and the US is its biggest cosmetics export country.
Trump has said he will not extend the current deadline of August 1 for reciprocal tariffs to come into effect.
With or without deals in place, the uncertainty around the tariffs in recent months has already impacted companies' bottom lines and the global economy, dampening consumer spending.
Many big names have or plan to hike prices for customers to mitigate rising costs.
LVMH recently reported a 4% decline in revenues for the first half of 2025 to €39.8bn, which Arnault said “showed solidity in the current context”.
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