Last week, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will be introducing a 20% import tariff on all products from the European Union effective Wednesday 9 April. This measure will make cut flowers and bulbs from the Netherlands significantly more expensive for US consumers.
“The timing of the introduction of the import duties by the US is lousy,” said Holex CEO Paul Hoogenboom, still digesting Trump's press conference from last Wednesday morning. When asked about the consequences of the 6.8 to 20% higher import duties on the flowers that his company exports to the US from the Netherlands, Hoogenboom's first reaction is that the timing is lousy, right before Easter and Mother's Day. He still has a few battles ahead with customers with whom he had made price agreements ahead of these holidays, who will now see their flowers become more expensive due to the import duties.
Hoogenboom is not worried that the wholesale sector will give him a hard time, as last month, flowers were 50% cheaper than in January and February. He expects more problems with retail customers: “Those long-term contracts with the retail sector are definitely an issue. They have their schedules and fixed price points. There is a price gap to be bridged between us and them. Those will be tough negotiations, which won't do the Mother's Day margins any good.”
