South West business says Trump's tariffs 'took us by surprise'
Exporting businesses in Devon and Cornwall have been reacting to US President Donald Trump's tariffs, with one company describing the extra tax as a "surprise".His universal 10% levy remains in place for the UK and all countries other than China after a 90-day pause announced on Wednesday for those initially given higher increases.The tariffs came into force shortly after midnight on Wednesday, with China now facing a levy of 125% after retaliating to Trump's increases.Ben Wearmouth, export sales manager at Bott Ltd in Bude, Cornwall, said the tariffs had taken the business "by surprise".
'A balancing act'
He said: "We knew it was coming but I think the expectation was that it was going to be on raw materials rather than semi-finished products and finished products."Bott Ltd develops in-vehicle equipment and faces a 25% tariff - it employs 185 employees in Cornwall and 421 across the UK.The government said it would not be rushed into retaliatory measures after the US brought in the 10% import tax on nearly all UK products entering the US, on top of the 25% levies on aluminium, steel and cars.Mr Wearmouth said: "Mr Trump and his tariffs are an evolving situation... very dynamic. "I don't think anybody really knows what is around the corner, but we are faced with 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium products [after they were introduced] from 12 March."Mr Wearmouth said he hoped future discussions between the US and UK governments were successful."In the meantime, we've got a bit of a balancing act," he said.He added: "Do we react quickly and add those 25% tariffs on the prices the US end users are paying today, or do we wait? "That's the challenge that we face as a business."
Martin Gill, managing director at Vispring, a luxury mattress maker in Plymouth, said trade with the US accounted for "about 15%" of its global turnover. He said: "We send about 3,500 there per year."Personally, I think the UK got off lightly compared to other countries."Mr Gill said he thought the tariffs would "affect the American people more", adding he thought the uncertainty of the situation meant businesses had to be "adaptable".
Teagle Machinery, a company based near St Agnes in Cornwall, employs about 150 people making agricultural machinery with a customer base in 40 countries, including the US. Managing director Tom Teagle said: "Our shipments to the US are significant for us - they represent about 10% of our turnover each year. "We actually have a salesman who lives in North Carolina who looks after Canada and the US for us. So we put a lot of investment into developing that market."He added: "We have to watch it very carefully but a 10% tariff in the overall cost of distribution is only still a relatively small amount. "So, working with our distributors, who are well-established over there, we would share the cost of the tariff."
'Second thought'
John Brown, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said businesses in Cornwall were being impacted by the tariffs.He said: "We have organisations that are exporting consumer goods, we have organisations that are exporting medical products into the US."Obviously we have a decent amount of food and drink that goes over there as well, so I think that there is certainly a level of exposure from Cornwall into the US."Mr Brown said he thought businesses in Cornwall would "take a second thought" about entering the US market due to the tariffs.He said: "It's being felt in a sense of nervousness, it's being felt in a sense of not being able to make decent, confident decisions, especially if you were looking at maybe entering the US market or increasing capacity and export into the US market."
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