Trump tariffs: Welsh business says new costs are very painful
Donald Trump's new 10% tariffs on all imports to the United States could spell the end of one Welsh company's sales there, its boss has said.Anglesey-based Halen Môn has been exporting salt to the US since 2000, its managing director Alison Lea-Wilson said.But the company's products already cost two or three times more there than they do in the UK, she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.Halen Môn's salt goes through an importer, a distributor, a wholesaler and a retailer before it reaches the US consumer, and to add another 10% might be "the straw that breaks the camel's back," she added.
Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports from the UK and many other countries from 5 April which he said were necessary to protect American jobs and manufacturing.Companies that bring the foreign goods into the US have to pay the tax to the government, but it could also affect consumers if those costs are passed on in the form of higher prices on the shelves.
In 2023, the US became Wales' highest-value export market, accounting for £2.9bn, or 15%, of exports - mainly machinery and transport equipment.Prof Max Munday from Cardiff University's Business School said the tariff structure would bring an increase in costs for Welsh manufacturing through the supply chain.He also expects Welsh businesses that export to the US to see higher costs due to more regulation and administrative requirements."This announcement will reduce confidence. It will increase uncertainty and I think it will hit business investment decisions," he said.But the US market will continue to be important for Welsh companies, he added.Ms Lea-Wilson said Halen Môn's distributor told her they were "very upset" and were taking legal advice to see how they could help her business."It's very painful, on a personal level, because some of our customers are now friends," she said.One of the company's proudest moments came when Halen Môn was used on chocolates which were President Obama's favourite."He used to give them to all his visitors at the White House," Ms Lea-Wilson said.She is still hopeful the company can continue to sell it products in the US, but admitted the tariffs "might well be then end".Ms Lea-Wilson also hopes that with the Welsh and British governments' help, they will be able to find different export markets.She said the firm had already shared some of the costs of exporting to the EU since Brexit by absorbing some of the increased costs of freight."We are really doing our best to share in people's pain, but there will come a point when we just can't do it anymore," she added.
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