US TARIFF WARS HIT FRANCE'S RICHEST MAN

Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy head says failure to strike deal with US would be 'the fault of Brussels.' By Liz Alderman

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For Bernard Arnault, France’s richest man and head of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury goods empire, the year started off brightly. A friend, President Donald Trump, extended a personal invitation to the Jan 20 inauguration. Consumers in the United States, one of LVMH’s biggest markets, were snapping up the company’s Dior dresses and Tiffany jewellery.

Then came Mr Trump’s tariffs — and a substantial plunge in the company’s share price.

“Until the end of February, everything was going very well,” Mr Arnault told a packed auditorium of anxious shareholders on Thursday at the LVMH annual general meeting in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

“Then we came up against a global economic geopolitical situation that was turned upside down by potential customs duties.”

Now, he said, it is up to European leaders to resolve the trade war with Mr Trump “amicably.” Any failure would be “the fault of Brussels,” he added, and would force LVMH to increase US production and “avoid Europe.”

Echoing a suggestion made recently by Elon Musk, one of Mr Trump’s chief advisers, Mr Arnault also called on European politicians to press for the creation of a free-trade zone between Europe and the United States.

LVMH is by no means the only global conglomerate to be whipped by Mr Trump’s effort to rewire global trading. But as the world’s biggest luxury company, with 75 star brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany and Dom Pérignon Champagne, it has become an industry bellwether.