AFP, Washington :
American importers of French cheese, bubbly and porcelain are raising their voices in Washington, hoping against hope they can outweigh Silicon Valley giants in a battle over tariffs on luxury items from France.
President Donald Trump last month threatened to punish Paris for a new tax on tech giants like Netflix and Amazon, unveiling sky-high retaliatory duties on about $2.4 billion in French wines, makeup and leather handbags. US trade officials on Tuesday are due to hold a public hearing to allow individuals and companies to comment on the punitive measure.
But already complaints have poured in from mom-and-pop outlets across the United States warning of layoffs, lost business and damage to innocent bystanders.
The new US import duties are designed to pinch some of France’s most emblematic and politically sensitive industries – adding to the pain already hitting the country from $7.5 billion in tariffs Trump slapped on European Union exports in October in a clash over subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus.
The latest battle pits the interests of globe-spanning American tech behemoths against local retailers and middlemen who eke out small margins supplying bars, restaurants, shops and department stores.
“The tariff will effectively shut down the access Americans have to European wines (and many other artisanal products) and as a result, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs,” California wine merchants Kermit Lynch and F. Dixon Brooke said last month in a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
American importers of French cheese, bubbly and porcelain are raising their voices in Washington, hoping against hope they can outweigh Silicon Valley giants in a battle over tariffs on luxury items from France.
President Donald Trump last month threatened to punish Paris for a new tax on tech giants like Netflix and Amazon, unveiling sky-high retaliatory duties on about $2.4 billion in French wines, makeup and leather handbags. US trade officials on Tuesday are due to hold a public hearing to allow individuals and companies to comment on the punitive measure.
But already complaints have poured in from mom-and-pop outlets across the United States warning of layoffs, lost business and damage to innocent bystanders.
The new US import duties are designed to pinch some of France’s most emblematic and politically sensitive industries – adding to the pain already hitting the country from $7.5 billion in tariffs Trump slapped on European Union exports in October in a clash over subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus.
The latest battle pits the interests of globe-spanning American tech behemoths against local retailers and middlemen who eke out small margins supplying bars, restaurants, shops and department stores.
“The tariff will effectively shut down the access Americans have to European wines (and many other artisanal products) and as a result, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs,” California wine merchants Kermit Lynch and F. Dixon Brooke said last month in a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
