French furniture giant to explore other markets amid rising U.S. tariffs, policy challenges

French furniture maker Fermob is reducing sales to the U.S., pivoting its market focus to Australia and Asia as rising tariffs and unpredictable trade policies weigh on operations.

Speaking to China Global Television Network (CGTN) in an interview, Bernard Reybier, president of Fermob, said the century-old manufacturer is contending with rising prices and declining profits with the increase in tariffs on the European Union.

"Everybody was a little bit surprised by the new duty policy from the United States. But like every company, we have to face that new situation," said Reybier.

For Fermob, the U.S. market has been a crucial overseas destination for its products. However, the rising tariffs on European-made goods are beginning to reshape the company's approach to this key market.

"The products sold from France to the USA right now, we have two categories of products, some with a 10 percent duty and some other with a 25 percent duty. This chair was available on the U.S. market at around 150 U.S. dollars, Right now, it's available at 175. We reduced our margin. I hope it's not going to last very long," he said.

This price increase, although necessary due to the tariffs, risks reducing the competitiveness of Fermob's products in the U.S. market. The company hopes that this situation will be short-lived and that a resolution to the trade tensions will help stabilize the market.

"Right now, the situation between China and the United States is a little bit softer as far as duties are concerned. We hope that this situation will be a situation for the future. We need that, not only me in France, but in China, in all over Europe, and even for the U.S. consumers," Reybier said.

As the company faces significant uncertainties about the future, Reybier acknowledged that forecasting sales has become particularly challenging.

At the same time, he hopes to strengthen efforts to expand into the Chinese market.

"It's very difficult to make any forecast for the next season. So we will face a new situation, maybe selling less to the U.S. and more in the other European countries or Australia or Japan or why not China?" Reybier noted.

French furniture giant to explore other markets amid rising U.S. tariffs, policy challenges

French furniture giant to explore other markets amid rising U.S. tariffs, policy challenges

An artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model specialized for analyzing human genetic diversity was launched at Shanghai's cutting-edge Model Speed Space innovation hub on Tuesday.

Named SNPBAG, it is the world's first large model built specifically for genomic analysis, promising to precisely predict diseases and advance personalized health care.

The model focuses on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common type of genetic variation among people, which influence traits such as height, intelligence and personality.

Currently, SNPBAG can be used for ancestry tracing and kinship identification. In the future, with further training, it is expected to predict disease risks at various life stages based on DNA sequences, offering higher screening accuracy than existing genetic testing methods.

"As far as we know, traditional methods examine SNPs point by point for correlations with traits like height or intelligence, without taking into account, for example, interactions between or among genes. Therefore, we need a model that can autonomously identify these complex relationships. Now, we've found such a tool that can bring close two gene expressions [of the human body] that are far away from each other and provide biological interpretations," said Tang Kun, an expert of computational biology and founder of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.

Looking ahead, the model will support the development of China's sovereign genomic database, promote its domestic self-reliance, enhance AI-driven drug discovery and improve the target screening success rates by over 200 percent. It also aims to make precision health care more accessible.

"The most well-known application is non-invasive prenatal screening. Currently, only a few conditions are covered by national insurance, but there are over 20,000 rare diseases in children. We are now collaborating with Shanghai Children’s Hospital to expand screening coverage," said Lu Sitong, CEO of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology.

With SNPBAG, non-invasive prenatal screening is expected to detect a broader range of rare diseases in the future. The company said it also plans to launch consumer-facing products to benefit the general public.

China launches world's first foundation model for genomic analysis