Ready to sign a deal in the United States, Elixia lemonade fears a tax increase
We cannot speak of panic on the part of the manufacturer of artisanal lemonade Elixia, based in Champagnole, but caution remains in order. “Obviously, the election of Trump worries us a little. There may be new customs tariffs applied to European agri-food products,” fears its manager Hugo Sublet. It must be said that the American market accounts for 15 to 20% of the company's turnover, for some 200,000 bottles sold each year. “In 2024, 40 to 50% of our sales will be exported to around thirty countries including the United States. The country is our largest major export customer, ahead of South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” adds Hugo Sublet.
Taxes of 20 or 40% will be catastrophic
For eight months, import-export has nevertheless tended to develop, after several years of post-Covid sluggishness. After New Jersey for the East Coast and Texas last year for the South of the country, the company is even in the process of signing a third contract with a new Californian importer (West Coast), met at the International Trade Fair. agrifood (SIAL) in Paris in mid-October. New taxes on imports could, however, push companies to pass them on in their prices, in other words to encourage inflation and put a stop to international trade.
With a product labeled Made in France, sold in bars, hotels, restaurants and French bakeries or even in the delicatessen sections of major housing and decoration brands, Jura lemonade is aimed at a clientele with the power to high purchase, less affected by price increases. Hugo Sublet, however, prefers to wait before splashing the lemonade: “If import taxes rise to 5 or 10%, it will still go up, at 20 or 40%, it will be catastrophic. »
Margaux Balfin
France
