UK firms react to Trump tariffs: 'It's a huge blow to Scotland's whisky industry'

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a list of tariffs on countries across the world that send their products to America.

The UK will be subject to 10% tariffs on imports from the UK and 20% on European Union imports.

We've spoken to firms which export to the US from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland about what they think the impact on their businesses will be.

For Scotch whisky makers, the US is its most important overseas market - worth £971 million a year.

Anthony Wills runs the Kilchoman distillery on the island of Islay and says he feels "deflated" at the prospect of tariffs. "It's a huge blow for the industry," he says.

"For us personally, it represents 10% of our sales. So it's clearly going to be a big blow, especially with the current economic headwinds that we're all experiencing, we're all going to find this very difficult and very challenging."

The industry has been hit with US tariffs before, with a 25% levy on single malts back in 2019. The Scottish Whisky Association estimates that for the 18 months the tariffs were in place, the industry lost £600m in sales.

Mr Wills says he split the cost of the tariff with his US importer so the price would stay the same for their American customers.

"I imagine we'll be doing what we did last time, and trying to keep the shelf price as it was before," he says.

"We have to react and we will be discussing this with our importer and deciding what the best way forward is."

Wales sold £2.2bn of goods to the US last year - most of it was machinery and equipment manufactured by small companies.

Newport-based company, Tomoe Valve, makes high performance butterfly valves that are used in a wide variety of projects all over the world.

The firm hit £6m in sales in 2024/25 and its biggest order worth £1.2m ($1.6m) came from the US - a huge valve for a battery plant.

Financial director Denise Cole says she does not want tariffs on her products but understands why President Trump has brought them in.

"I've seen UK manufacturing decimated and the same has happened in America so he's looking after his own which is exactly what it says on the tin with Trump."

She says there was a lot of panic over tariffs and any changes could be "short-lived".

"I really don't think it's going to impact us in a negative way," she says. "The specialist products we sell, they don't manufacture in the US anyway, they would struggle to get them elsewhere.

"Our own government has done me more damage by increasing employer National Insurance Contributions," she says. "That's added £35,000 to my costs - that's a whole person's wages. I would have taken on a new member of staff this year as we have some big orders but I won't be able to now."

The Treasury has previously said it was delivering the stability businesses need to invest and grow.

A new import tax of 25% on cars entering the US came into effect today, and car parts will face the same tax at some point in the next few months.

Some 17% of UK car exports went to the US last year, making it the second largest export market after the EU.

Barkley Plastics in Sutton Coldfield supplies parts to carmakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Toyota and Mini.

Managing director Matt Harwood says: "The new tariffs will affect [car manufacturers] greatly, which in turn affects businesses like us in their supply chain."

He says the UK's automotive industry was already under pressure before the tariffs were announced. The UK produced more than 1.5 million cars a year before the pandemic - that's now down to 800,000 a year.

Mr Harwood says: "Covid-19, chip shortages, and broader supply chain disruptions have made volumes unpredictable in recent years. These new US tariffs threaten to push that number even lower, which would be particularly damaging for smaller suppliers like us, who operate on tight margins.

"A further downturn in demand could quickly translate into job losses or even business closures," he says. "So our main concern is how the US tariffs put tens of thousands of jobs at risk within the UK automotive supply chain."

In 2022, Northern Ireland exported goods worth £1.9bn to the US, making it the third biggest external market for goods behind Great Britain (£11bn) and Ireland (£4.6bn).

Belfast watchmaker Nomadic makes 22% of its sales in the US.

Its founder Peter McAuley says there was huge potential for his business to grow in the US, but that's now in doubt.

He says America is a strong market with a good trading environment, but he believes tariffs will have an impact on his sales - although he remains confident about the future of the trading relationship between Northern Ireland and the US.