Walgreen Boots, news by Hebei Longsheng
| Walgreens Boots, Natura may face Trump's tariffs if British Digital Service Tax Kicks In Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signalled a willingness to consider a digital services tax (DST) after Brexit – should he win the Dec. 12 elections – with manifesto plans to raise £500 million ($655 million) per year. That’s similar to plans launched in France that have triggered U.S. retaliatory tariffs. In Britain’s case a DST could also jeopardize a post Brexit trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. In the French case, tariffs targeted luxury goods exports worth $2.38 billion. British exports of whiskey and gin were worth $1.78 billion and $383 million respectively in the 12 months to Sept. 30, so a 30.2% tariff could cover the $655 million of retaliation. Yet, shipments by Bacardi and Allied Domecq are already being targeted for retaliatory tariffs at a 25% rate in an aerospace-related subsidy case. British exports of personal care products were worth $519 million in the past 12 months and could be another target. That could bode ill for U.S. seaborne imports by Natura Cosméticos’s The Body Shop which already fell by 22.5% year over year in the three months to Oct. 31. Similarly Kao Corp’s Molton Brown has suffered a 26.3% slide. An outlier has been Walgreens Boots, with shipments of personal care products linked to the firm to the U.S. having risen by 47.3%, possibly as part of a pre-Brexit surge ahead of the now-delayed Oct. 31 exit date. |
