Many restaurants rely on delicious food products from Europe throughout the menu. Different types of liquor, cheese, and oil that are heavily used in foodservice are often imported from European countries. The rich flavors in foreign products such as Scottish whiskey and Italian cheese are vital to the creation of delicious cocktails and dishes in restaurants throughout the United States.
Due to a disagreement with the European Union, the Trump administration announced it would start imposing a 25% tariff on different European goods as early as October 18th. A tariff is a tax imposed by the country receiving foreign goods that makes it more expensive for the product to enter their country. This extra expense will lead foreign manufacturers to increase their prices for U.S. buyers.
The proposed tariff would impact the following products imported from Europe:
- Coffee
- Sweet biscuits
- Waffles
- Pecorino cheese
- Dried cherries and mussels
- Specific Wines
- Irish and Scottish Single Malt Whiskeys
This creates a dilemma for restaurant operators. Many of these products carry tremendous value in menus across the country, and they cannot afford to stop using them. Restaurants that rely on these foreign products will see buying costs increase. This will likely lead to a restructure in pricing to make up for the additional cost. The additional costs of the tariff could force restaurants to raise their prices anywhere from 15% to 25%.
It is important for restaurant operators to be aware of this potential situation. They can start forming possible adjustments to their buying and pricing strategies to minimize the negative impact of the tariff.
To learn more about how the proposed tariff would impact restaurant operators, please read on at Nation’s Restaurant News.
