by To a certain extent, the United States owes its existence of the Welsh.
Up to 18 of the 56 signatories of the declaration of independence from 1776, a Welsh inheritance claimed, depending on which source they believe, including a delegate born in Landaff.
That is why Donald Trump’s “liberation day”, when he imposed almost every country in the world “mutual” tariffs, was such a sobering moment for the Welsh whiske whiskey maker pendyn distillery.
In 2014, during a NATO summit in Great Britain, the Barack Obama distillery presented a bottle of Penderyner independent and celebrated America’s escape from colonial rule.
Now this special special relationship hangs on a thread.
“Ultimately, it is the consumer who loses,” said Stephen Davies, Managing Director of Pendyn. In a good year, up to 10% of the company’s annual sales come from the United States.
“The United States will do more like Canada in which it is difficult to reach. Canadians go to the USA and find imported whiskey that they cannot get. It will be less choice for Americans and that’s a bit sad.”
The Welsh whiskey makes a tiny fraction of the British alcohol, a small dram compared to the big barrels of her cousins in the Scotch business.
The exports of British drinks, ghosts and vinegar to the USA, according to the National Farmers’, are by far the most valuable segment in the category agrifood category a value of 1.6 billion GBP per year. Scotch accounts for 913 million GBP of the total, about two thirds.
Of the exports of the British food and drink, Scotch corresponds to about a quarter and about 2% of all exported goods in Great Britain.
The power package distillments in Scotland know from bitter experience how US tariffs can leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Between October and March 2021, the United States imposed a tariff of 25% on individual malt and whiskey liqueurs from Great Britain, collateral damage in a lengthy dispute over the competition between the aviation companies Boeing and Airbus.
The result was a decline in Scottish exports in the United States in the last three months of 2019. During the 18-month period, they were lost in total more than 600 million GBP.
Trump’s new tariff policy, which was announced during a characteristically unpredictable speech in the rose garden of the White House, demonstrated a tariff that is 10%lower than before, the length of which is indefinite.
A source in spirits trade said that Scottish manufacturers had agreed to contain their anger, which was aware of the fact that the president was unpredictable and could still be surpassed by British negotiators in order to resize or delay the tariffs.
The Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA), which says that the industry supports 66,000 jobs in Great Britain, has not completely reserved. “The industry is disappointed that Scotch whiskey could be affected by these tariffs,” said a spokesman.
