Donald Trump’s tariffs could add 10% to the cost of a pint of Guinness, financial experts say. It would mean a pint of the Black Stuff costs more 45p in most of the UK, taking the price up to nearly £5, while the increase would be 57p in London with drinkers paying £6.22.
The rise highlights the impact US trade tariffs have across the world. Guinness is owned by Diageo which does a lot of business in Canada and Mexico, countries set to pay huge tariffs under President Trump’s plans. John J. Hardy, Global Head of Macro Strategy at Saxo, said, “A 10% increase is a reasonable baseline estimate for tariffs on European imports, but I still think that, excluding China, tariffs are chiefly used as a threat to prompt others to do or not to do certain policy moves.
“Just like us, Diageo has no idea where the Trump administration will end with these tariffs. The now-you-see-them, now-you-don’t tariffs against Canada and Mexico are likely mostly meant to encourage more companies to invest in the US, rather than that we see the US sustaining high tariffs against those two countries for a long period.”
Diageo is one of Mexico’s biggest whiskey operators and which both Don Julio and Casamigos tequila in Mexico.
Mr Trump has also threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.
The European tariff, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminium tariffs by the US administration, was expected to take effect on April 1.
But Mr Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU pushes ahead with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey.
The US has also imposed a global 25% tariff on steel and aluminium, which will hit British exporters despite hopes that the President might be persuaded to exempt the UK.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds next week travels to the US to continue talks about a new trade deal but Conservatives condemned the Government for failing to negotiate an agreement with the US. Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: “An entire month since steel and aluminium tariffs were first announced, the Secretary of State is only now going to sit down with the Secretary of Commerce of our closest ally.
“While he has been correcting his CV, steelworkers and businesses are hurting today. This is a colossal failure of trade policy on his watch.”
Confirming he will travel to the US next week for trade talks, Mr Reynolds told MPs: “I do think we can look to the opportunity the UK has, which is greater than any other country, to get to an agreement that improves our terms for trade with the US.”
He said the UK had made a “strong case” to be exempted from the steel and aluminium tariffs, but “the US position is no exemptions for anybody”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would not follow the example of many other countries and hit back at the US.
Sir Keir said the option of a response to the US remained on the table, but he has pinned his hopes on a wider deal with Mr Trump’s administration to exempt the UK from the president’s tariffs.
“Obviously I’m disappointed to see tariffs, global tariffs, in relation to steel and aluminium,” he said.
“But I’m going to take a pragmatic response to this, because we are negotiating and talking about an economic deal and agreement as we speak.”
He said that “of course, in the end, all options are on the table, but my response is to keep my feet on the ground, to be pragmatic, to keep ensuring that we keep our eyes on the prize”.
“The prize is not a tariff war, which I don’t think is going to be in our interests.
“The prize is an economic agreement or deal, if we can reach that, that actually covers tariffs and much more besides.”