Summary
Hennessy is exploring a plan to bottle cognac in China to avoid high tariffs imposed on European brandy imports.
The trial involves shipping bulk cognac to China for bottling locally, which could affect 2025 sales if successful.
The move has sparked labor strikes at Hennessy’s bottling facility in southwestern France.
Hennessy, a cognac producer under French luxury conglomerate LVMH, has announced plans to trial bottling operations in China to counter steep tariffs imposed by Beijing. These anti-dumping measures, implemented in October, raised duties on bottled brandy imports from the European Union to over 30%. China, which accounted for $1.7 billion in cognac exports last year, remains the second-largest and most profitable market for the industry.