From Kate Lester, Founder and CEO, Diamond Logistics
I know. We thought Brexit was bad enough as exporters, but here comes Trump again. And the trade war starts. Global Armageddon. Well, we survived Brexit so we can survive this — but how do you carry on regardless of how difficult trading is? Here’s Diamond’s top six tips on how to succeed in light of Trump’s tariffs — you keep calm and buy and sell British! Carry on regardless of how difficult trading is.
1 – Sell to more domestic customers
There’s a lot of people I know who won’t be paying £80k for a Tesla when they used to only spend £38k on one, for reasons not only linked to Tesla’s trade tariffs!! And I imagine Jaguar and Land Rover will be looking for somewhere to sell their cars too now they’ve stopped exports to the US. Build British. Sell to British residents. This is just one area of opportunity for UK manufacturers. I certainly won’t be buying a Harley-Davidson this year!!
2 – People LOVE all things British.
From brands like Atom dresses, designed and manufactured in the UK, to your local cheese producer, there are thousands of really cool British brands that create, manufacture and distribute from the UK.
There’s still plenty of places in the world we can sell stuff to.
3 – Become the artisan of your craft.
Social media is all about brands being able to establish their own identity now. Once upon a time, cheap products from China might have been the go-to purchase. But now, with Trump’s tariffs and when the price is nearly like something which is home-produced in the UK — and you’ve got the story of your brand and the skill set behind the creation of it — I think you’ve got a truly interesting and valuable marketing message there, so big it up.
4 – Source from the most tariff-favourable global partners.
I know, I know, this might sound a little bit like I’m teaching you how to suck eggs. And it’s no good when much of your supply chain is from China. But there must be other global areas to look at. I know, for example, quite a lot of our clients have moved manufacturing to Vietnam. So maybe that’s a more viable option.
5 – Look for places where we’ve got existing trade agreements, or where trade agreements are imminent if your sales timeline is longer.
Apparently, a deal is soon to be struck with India. There are plenty of non-EU European countries we already have trade deals with. Here’s a list of our trading partners HERE.
6 – Don’t forget about the US.
Don’t forget we’ve ‘only’ got a 10% tariff imposed on our goods — as opposed to a 104% tariff for goods from China. That makes it look positively competitive!! There is opportunity in these here hills. You just have to find it.
