Emmanuel Macron is expected on Thursday in Roquefort-Sur-Soulzon (Aveyron), a fief of the famous sheep cheese that celebrates the 100 years of its original denomination, in the context of the final negotiations in Washington to try to extinguish the war of customs duties caused by Donald Trump with Europe. The head of state must visit the wineries of the Roquefort company early in the afternoon and meet the breeders and producers of the famous Perejil paste in this village 30 kilometers from Millau, south of Massif Central.
“Symbol of the National Cheese Heritage”, the Protected Origin (AOP) of Roquefort (AOP), obtained on July 26, 1925, actively contributes to the “preservation of knowledge” and the “attraction of our campaigns”, receives the elysée. The PDO represents more than 2,600 breeders, gathered around 1,330 farms and the marketing of almost 14,000 tons in 2024.
“The collective interest is at stake”
Roquefort is also an international gastronomic emblem where he makes a quarter of his sales, especially in the United States, and where he is looking for new points of sale, despite a tense context, to compensate for a structural fall in his sales in France. The visit of the Head of State intervenes when the European Commerce Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, is trying to conclude a commercial agreement with the United States in Washington before the deadline of July 9 established by Donald Trump.
The president could double the breach rate of customs tariffs in imports of the European Union at 20%, or even take them to 50% as stated in May. Emmanuel Macron believes that this “commercial war” is an “aberration” and demands the “rapid” conclusion of an agreement, “not at all costs”, however. In this context, “the symbol and the image that this displacement of the President of the Republic refers is very important,” says François-Xavier Huard, CEO of the National Federation of the dairy industry (Fnil).
The US market represents 25,000 tons of cheeses, mainly Emmental and Brie and some pdo, specifies. Roquefort had already suffered from 1999 to 2009 from a commercial war between the United States and Europe, with US customs tariffs of 100% taxes in response to the European prohibition of importing hormones. However, a 20% surcharge should be possible to transmit the prices paid by Americans for high -level dairy products in the sector, such as Roquefort, they estimate certain experts.
Similarly for cognac
The concern is also large on the side of the exporters of the Federation of Wines and Spirits (FEV) whose billing reaches 3.8 billion euros in the United States, ten times more than dairy products. “We are waiting for the President of the Republic to play the collective game of Europe, and does not unnecessarily expose France,” said its president, Gabriel Picard, interviewed by AFP. “We are at a particular moment in the relationship of European states, and a few days before an agreement, at least we expect,” he adds.
The same story on the cognac side, already beaten by a commercial war with China and also fears paying the price of an increase in customs tariffs in the United States, its first exit. Cheese exports also benefit from certain free trade agreements, such as CETA with Canada, even if, disputed, it is not yet ratified by Parliament, says Elysée. A point that must be addressed by the Head of State.
The denomination of Roquefort is undoubtedly a centenary, but the cheese is much greater, at least eight centuries, than in fact, with the Brie, Le Gruyère or the cheeses of Auverne, one of the patriarchs of the production of French cheese. It is also the third French AOP in marketed tonnage, behind the county and rebloochon.
Source: BFM TV
