Rum exporter says US tariffs are a concern, but sees opportunity in Canadian market
Image: US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imports are a concern, says Ambrose Gosling (CBS & Gosling’s photos)
Exporters of Bermuda’s world-famous Black Seal Rum are adjusting to the sobering reality of Donald’s Trump’s new tariffs.
While we’re not in line for some of the heavier charges other countries face, goods exported from Bermuda to the US could be in line for a 10% tariff.
Bermuda does not ship many local goods overseas, but Gosling’s Black Seal Rum is one of our most famous exports.
Ambrose Gosling, Managing Director (Export) at Gosling’s, responded to US President Trump’s announcement candidly.
“Tariffs aren’t good for business”, he said.
“We’re still trying to quantify exactly what the impact will be, and how the tariff will interact with the duty and Federal Excise Tax we are already paying, but the US is our largest market, so of course it is a concern.”
“Most rum is distilled outside of the US, so this will have an impact on the entire category and at the end of the day rum will simply be more expensive for the US consumer.”
However, the trade and tariff moves by the US against other countries may open the door to grow the Bermuda company’s market, Mr Gosling suggests…
“A potential silver lining is that with Canada boycotting and pulling US products off the shelves, there may be opportunity as a Bermuda product to grow our presence there.”
Perfumer Isabelle Ramsey-Brackstone says the new tariffs will affect Lili Bermuda negatively.
“It will add to our cost of doing business in Bermuda”, she said, “which is already quite incredible compared to other perfume houses around the world.”
“…hopefully our US clients will remain faithful to our beautiful products.”
Another famous Bermuda brand is Barritt’s Ginger Beer – but it’s not produced on-island, so any potential impact will be indirect.
Bruce Barritt, General Manager at John Barritt & Son, said “our Barritt’s Ginger Beer is produced in the USA from concentrate and essences that are made in the UK.”
Their American distributor, he says, buys the concentrate from the UK, and he will have to pay the relevant tariff on those ingredients when they land in the USA.
“As this is an added cost he may well pass it along, and add extra cost to the case price of Barritt’s Ginger Beer in that country.”
Mr Barritt continued, “because we buy cases of cans and glass bottles from the USA, there may be an increase in price to us on these packages at some point in the future.”
Barritt’s does order ingredients from the UK to supply facilities in the US, which then produce bottles of Barritt’s Ginger Beer for import into Bermuda. Mr Barritt said they will have to see what the tariff situation is when they order a new batch.
