The Trump administration is giving Gillette a break on steel tariffs.
The shaving brand has been granted an exemption from the 25% tariff the US government imposed on steel imports earlier this year, its parent company, Procter & Gamble (PG), said this week.
As American men are shaving less often and other consumer habits shift, P&G, the world’s biggest shaving player, has been struggling. Cheaper competition, direct-to-consumer online subscription shaving clubs, and even economic shaving clubs have taken a large toll on PG.
On Tuesday, PG was informed that it is now exempt from the 25% U.S. tariff levied on imported Japanese and Swedish steel that is used in its Gillette and Venus razor blades.
The exemption notification, sent from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, came 4 months after Edgewell Personal Care Co,P&G’s biggest razor competition, received an exemption.
Gillette and Venus are the biggest components of P&G’s grooming business, which accounted for about 10 percent of global net sales in fiscal 2018, ended July 31.
“It wasn’t materially market-moving, but given the competitiveness of this industry we think it is important and significant (…) There was definitely a financial impact to the company, but we haven’t disclosed any numbers”, said P&G spokesman Damon Jones.
According to CNN, as of mid-September, the Trump administration had approved more than 2,500 requests from companies to have products excluded from the steel tariffs, according to the Commerce Department.
