Kilts are about to get more expensive

[John_Carrick]

The UK is promised a series of free trade deals by you know who after it leaves the EU later this month or subsequently. I'd better not say any more or vent an opinion.

[kiltedsawyer]

With all due respect, I have all the kilts my wife will allow. I believe the OP mentioned a hike in the price of SCOTCH?!!! Something must be done!!

Cheers,
David

[David Dubh]

With all due respect, I have all the kilts my wife will allow. I believe the OP mentioned a hike in the price of SCOTCH?!!! Something must be done!!

Cheers,
David

I had read more about the scotch which concerns me with the scotch industry’s previous ups and downs. I hope it doesn’t affect the distilleries needing to have production cuts. Of course being in Canada I’m hoping that we will see some extra allocation and possibly some releases that we don’t normally get.
Hopefully these tariffs and and the B word will get all sorted out without too much damage to the kilt tartan and scotch industries
Slainte David

[Tobus]

I had read more about the scotch which concerns me with the scotch industry’s previous ups and downs. I hope it doesn’t affect the distilleries needing to have production cuts.

I thought I read a while back that Scotch was really popular in Japan, and growing in China. Authentic Highland distilleries were having a hard time meeting demand, and it led to a bunch of distilleries sprouting up in Asia. I would doubt that any real whisky distilleries in Scotland will have to cut back because of this; they will just shift their shipping to other markets.

[Jacques]

I thought I read a while back that Scotch was really popular in Japan, and growing in China. Authentic Highland distilleries were having a hard time meeting demand, and it led to a bunch of distilleries sprouting up in Asia. I would doubt that any real whisky distilleries in Scotland will have to cut back because of this; they will just shift their shipping to other markets.

If made outside Scotland, can it still be considered "Scotch" whisky?

[Highland Logan]

If made outside Scotland, can it still be considered "Scotch" whisky?

No it can't.

[Highland Logan]

If made outside Scotland, can it still be considered "Scotch" whisky?

No it can't.

https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/fe...scotch-basics/

[Jacques]

No it can't.

Thank you sir, that's what i thought. And thanks for the link.

Jacques

[Tobus]

That's why I didn't refer to the Asian distilleries as Scotch makers, and referred to Scottish ones as "real" ones.

[Steve Ashton]

The whole idea behind tariffs is to encourage items to be made within a particular country by making it more expensive on the buyer to import.
Yes, tariffs are taxes paid by the importer and must be passed on to the consumer. The manufacturer is still paid the same for his goods. The idea of Tariffs is that the consumer will find it more expensive to buy from one place and the maker in that place will see decreased demand.

But for tariffs to work takes time to build the infrastructure. Take kilt fabric for just one example. There is the raw wool. The cleaning and carding. The spinning. The dyeing, then the weaving and finally the finishing.
In the UK where some kilt fabric is woven, much of the other parts of the process are carried out somewhere else. One well known weaver has a map on the wall showing that the raw wool is raised in Australia. The cleaning, carding and spinning are done in Pakistan. The yarn is then shipped to S. America where it is dyed. The dyed yarns are finally shipped to the UK where the looms are. After weaving it still needs the finishing and depending on the volume and complexity may go outside the UK to be shipped back and ultimately put on the shelf.
Finally someone orders some fabric and it is shipped to them from the UK. Each step incurs the cost of the raw materials,and the added cost of doing that step of the process, plus the shipping to and fro. Tariffs may or may be in effect, and add to the costs, anywhere along the chain.
Tariffs may be on top of, and separate from, any duty and other taxes that a country may have in place on goods coming into, and moving around, the country.

Kilt fabric is truly an international industry.

It is rare in today's world for one single country to have all the infrastructure in place, to take over right away, when importing becomes more expensive. (They usually just find a different source to import from) There are also environmental issues like with leather for sporrans. Most western cultures have environmental protection laws which make it hard, if not impossible, to set up leather tanning operations.
The chemicals used in the cleaning of wool is another issue that makes it very hard to do in some countries.

So while the intent of tariffs may be well meaning (some would call tariffs a method of retaliation) they may, I stress may, be seen as incentives to produce an item vs importing it. But with many things, tariffs are usually imposed over something else. In the case of this tariff, the original intent is not to make our kilts more expensive but to effect an entire county though one aspect of the airline aircraft manufacturing industry.