French perfumes and cosmetics exports have suffered a chill. For the first time in 20 years, exports of bottles, cream tubes and powder cases containing French cosmetics declined in 2025. After three years of strong growth, overseas sales of L’Oréal, Clarins and Chanel products from French factories fell slightly, by 0.1%, down to €22.4 billion.
Despite this setback, the French cosmetics industry, which directly and indirectly employs 300,000 people in France, remained “the second largest contributor to the trade balance,” behind the aerospace sector, said Emmanuel Guichard, general delegate of the French Federation of Beauty Companies (FEBEA).
Yet this downturn has alarmed the sector, as it was entirely due to the US market, where a weak dollar combined with the introduction of new tariffs, announced at the US president’s inauguration in January 2025. Since August 7, 2025, these tariffs have reached 15% (and 20% for cosmetic products whose containers, bottles, or cases are made from aluminum or steel). As a result, French exports to the US plunged by around 18.5%, down to approximately €2.3 billion. “Perfume bottle exports there plunged by 16%,” said Guichard.
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