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PANIC HAS ENSUED around the world after US President Donald Trump put a ream of tariffs on around 90 countries, including the European Union, in what he labelled a “declaration of economic independence”.
From pharma to farming, every industry has been rattled, wondering how they will be impacted by the extreme measures.
Lots of everyday essentials and popular luxuries could go up in price as companies adapt to a new market.
The EU had a blanket 20% tariff put on all its exports to the US, plus extra for certain industries. Worse again, Madagascar, which produces around 80% of the world’s vanilla, was hit with a 47% tariff.
Brian Malone of Dublin Spice Company spoke to The Journal about what the tariffs will mean for vanilla.
He says he’s used to a volatile market, but he’s struggling to see the logic in Trump’s “crazy” tariffs.
“[Vanilla] is something that America needs and people in Madagascar are not buying Teslas, so you’re not going to balance that one out,” he said.
It’s American consumers who are going to be hit very badly with this.
However, other vanilla producers with lower US-imposed tariffs, such as Uganda and Papua New Guinea, could stand to benefit. Trump imposed a comparatively low tariff of 10% on each of them.
The Dublin Spice Company’s biggest export is the US and Malone said they’ve previously seen “quiet spells” for the industry there, when people “don’t have the money to spend on luxuries” such as vanilla.
“The vanilla market in general is very, very wild anyway. The last five years has seen a fluctuation of about 80%.”
“It’s not directly from the tariff, it’s more just the fallout from the tariff’s impact,” Malone says.
It’s possible that, as the demand for a much smaller portion of the market increases, so too will the prices – and not just for Americans.
However, Malone says it won’t keep him up at night.
Going forward, it may be cheaper for the US to import vanilla from Europe, which can buy it from countries such as Madagascar without the large tariffs and then sell it on – a practice that already exists.
In that sense, European countries could make the tariffs work for them.
Malone’s experience living and working in Papua New Guinea for years has him well-placed to face whatever challenges lie ahead.
The Dublin Spice Company buys between 50kg and 150kg of vanilla at a time and sometimes, after sourcing it from Papua New Guinea, sells it on to countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands.
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Yeah like the Americans destroyed their stockpile, does anyone really belive that?
@Jimmyjoe Wallace:
They haven’t, at least not all of it. The US still has over 500 tonnes of chemical weapons that are scheduled to be destroyed in the coming years.
The US and Russia came to an agreement regarding the destruction of Cold War era chemical weapons and both countries have destroyed over 90% of their stockpiles. If either country wasn’t fulfilling it’s promises regarding the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles we’d know about it.
I love the hypocrisy of some people
Not a mention of the Russians who had and may still have the biggest chemical and biological stockpile in history
It’s only bad when the US does it, for some people
@Jason Culligan – How would we know either party wasn’t fulfilling it’s it’s promises RE: destruction of chemical weapons?? Who oversee’s and ensures it has been carried out on both sides??
Well, this advertising feature has certainly worked on me! Where can I buy this stuff?
I can’t believe a communist leader would do such a thing. surely communist good capitalist bad. as the aaa/pbp
@Patrick Gough: Yes Patrick. This horrific inhuman chemical was created by communists as the article clearly states :P
@Eoghan Holland:
A quick google search shows that the USSR also produced weaponised VX. They may not have invented it, but they did make it.
@Jason Culligan: Fair point Jason. Not going to argue with you on it :) – It was just a little irresistible as Patrick here somehow has transformed his dislike of a political party into a moot point and i just thought it would be fun to counter it. I wouldn’t advocate north korean policies or assign myself to any political force, just thought i’d see how the straw man faired with a wee flame…
Actually look closely at AAAPBP economic policies it mentions ‘direct allocation’ of goods by the state as a future goal
Something the NKs are meant to have (hasn’t worked) and their lit is filled with references to a planned economy
Would that be the same family of organophosphate That was used in sheep dip and plug in air fresheners not so long ago
@Peter Hargan: It was Kim’s farts in a cloth?
15 years of the war with terrorism, but not with Kim. No oil in NK.
Guinness farts are toxic too.
You’d know…cooney…
So herewith evidence that NoKo has WMD. Will the imminent US invasion be televised?
’10 times more powerful as…’ not ’10 times as powerful as’.
If the two girls accused had the nerve gas on their hands and rubbed it in his face, how are they still alive
One of them was vomiting and I’ll after the attack so it is suspected she may have been in touch with a tiny amount. It appears from the CCTV footage that they rubbed his face with cloths. If only one side of the cloth was contaminated it would have lessened the risk to them.
Because the dose makes the poison
There’s cyanide in apples but not in a high enough dose to kill you
If you took 4 solphadene tablets at once now you’d not die but if we’re taking 100 at once you’d get toxic levels of paracetamol for some people.
Just like radiation (we encounter it every day) it’s a matter of how much
China is suspected of supplying deadly toxic to North Korea….
@Thosj Carroll: For coal???
@Thosj Carroll: And the US supplied nukes to Israel……
Weapons of mass destruction! Means the Americans have a reason to go in now just like Iraq
Jeez! Arnt you all SO INFORMED!!!!
His wee mad brother, might be something to cause heart attacks. GMO’s like a virus that will only kill certain people with certain genetic markers, what a thought?
have your say