A Scotch Maker’s Challenge: First Brexit. Now Tariffs.

Karen Betts, the chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said the Trump administration’s decision to apply tariffs only to single malts was likely to hit smaller producers harder.

“The combination of tariffs in our most valuable market and mitigating the potential impact of Brexit is tough,” she said.

Distillers like Mr. Wills cannot lure their American customers to alternative, blended whiskies because they do not produce them, and single malt has been marketed as distinctive, focused on provenance.

Liam Hughes, chief executive of a small distiller in Glasgow, said his company had just sealed a deal to sell whisky to the United States when the tariffs were announced.

“We were all celebrating, and we wake up the next morning and find a 25 percent tariff overnight has been injected into the equation,” Mr. Hughes said in a telephone interview before flying to Japan to introduce Glasgow Distillery products there.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/business/scotch-whisky-brexit-tariffs.html?emc=rss&partner=rss