France – Planned Work Stoppages February & March
Industrial action continues to impact port productivity at Le Havre and Fos sur Mer ports. 4 hour work stoppages will continue (between 11AM to 3PM) every other day with overtime shifts still suspended on March 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 24, 26, and 28, 2025. A 72 hour strike has been announced for March 18 – 20, 2025 with all depots closed March 18, 2025.
As you may be aware, prolonged strike actions at the ports of Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer and have had a limited impact until recently. Congestion has now escalated to the point where vessels originally scheduled to call these ports are omitting them to maintain a reasonable variance from their original schedules. As a result, several planned shipments have been rolled into later sailings. If your shipment is affected, you will receive a separate communication with further details.
With ongoing concerns about potential European tariffs, cargo volumes are expected to remain high.for upcoming bookings. Elenteny has advised French origin offices to shift orders to reroute shipments through the Port of Antwerp. While this solution enables the movement of goods, it will unfortunately incur additional surcharges. At present, this is the only viable option for shipping out of France until at least early April.
We recognize the challenges this situation presents and are actively working to minimize delays and absorb as much of the additional cost as possible. We will provide an update on surcharge amounts in the coming days, ahead of finalizing any bookings through Antwerp.
We appreciate your business and your continued cooperation as we navigate these disruptions.
Organic Registration Renewals Is Here!
Elenteny Imports is certified to import organic wine since the 2024 implementation of new USDA Organic Program rules and has imported in excess of 80,000 cases of organic wine & food for our customers. We require that our customers register their SKUs with our team prior to importing to ensure a smooth import process. Registration is for 1 year, and the first wave of registrations are now due for renewal. If you wish to make any changes to your registrations (including removal) from our program, please do so by MARCH 21, 2025. You will be automatically billed for registration renewals.
If you want to start importing organic wine, reach out to organics@elentenyimports.com to find out how.
Tariffs for Canada and Mexico have been implemented. Let Congress know how you feel.
This week President Trump moved forward with the 25% tariffs for Canada and Mexico imports. The President also announced an additional levy on the 10% tariff on China, also started on March 4.
At this stage, it is unclear how the retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico will impact the US Alcohol and Beverage industry. SevenFifty reported on the initial retaliatory impacts once the tariff announcements were set. We urge our customers to join the US Wine Trade Alliance as a collective industry voice pushing back against the broad application of tariffs. Read their latest statement with a call to action.
April Surcharge Warnings
MSC has Peak Season Surcharge for shipments leaving western Mediterranean ports starting on April 1st. You can read the announcement here. As of today, we have not received any changes to our current costs since MSC only carries a portion of our containers. Please know that we will communicate any price changes as soon as we have them.
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