An Irish drinks producer has said that distributors in the US will likely hike prices on products impacted by the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods.
The chief executive of Coole Swan Irish Cream Liqueur, Mary Sadlier, said the company does at least 50% of its business with the US, which is the “biggest Irish cream liqueur market,” followed by the United Kingdom.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One, Ms Sadlier added that her company’s product is made with “very specific ingredients” that is also exported to Canada, the EU and the UK.
She said a 20% tariff during the previous [Trump] administration had been imposed and €80,000 in duty had to be paid as a shipment was about to dock in New York when the tariff was announced.
“That was a real shock to our system, because I think it was about €80,000 we had to find overnight,” Ms Sadlier said.
She added: “And a business of our size wouldn’t carry that kind of cash. So we survived that and then those tariffs were taken off.”
Ms Sadlier said that this time there’s been advance warning, which she said was good because it has enabled firms to plan ahead “your price increases, because ultimately the tariff gets picked up by the consumer”.
“It’s not a cost of my business, it’s not a cost of my distributors business, and it’s not a retailers cost.
“It is a government cost that is passed through to the consumer,” she said.
While this will mean higher prices for consumers, she said her company might have some “wiggle room” as it operates at the higher end of the market, “but it’s very difficult”.
The most difficult part is the “uncertainty”.
“It’s 15% now, but talking to my US partners, I don’t think anybody has settled on that number, it could go up, it could disappear, so you’re trying to factor it in and plan forward as much as you can.
“But it is difficult, really, really difficult,” she added.
Ms Sadlier said her next shipment to the US is due to arrive in October, and that her partners there are “keen to continue to import and to continue to grow the market,” but “relentless scenario planning” is involved and is plagued by uncertainty.
She said she is hopeful she has “a plan that works” because the company is experiencing “very solid growth” in the US.
“We don’t want to lose that and nor do our partners because we’re an important part of their business as well,” she added.
Ms Sadlier said though she has incurred other price increases this year “which I am not going to be able to push through…because the tariff will take precedence”.
She said it has meant long hours for her and her employees and that instead of concentrating for the “next four or five years” on growing her business, “you’re kind of back to having to manage the next five to six months of growth”.
In the food and drink business, “if you miss a week today, you could miss six months of trade”.
Ms Sadlier added that the “upside” is that because the tariffs are global and wide-ranging in nature this time “there’s an awful lot of partnerships and people are collaborating and trying to work together,” but the situation remains “difficult”.
