French cosmetics body says tariffs on US makeup carry retaliation risk

PARIS, March 12 (Reuters) - France's cosmetics industry faces an "enormous" risk of retaliation by the United States, after the European Union said it would go ahead with tariffs on U.S. imports including makeup, an industry official told Reuters on Wednesday.

France imports around 200 million euros ($218 million) worth of U.S. makeup a year, but exports about 2.5 billion euros of beauty products in the other direction, said Emmanuel Guichard, secretary general of trade association FEBEA.

"We are entering a trade war that we do not want to be part of," he said.

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