I import millions in Scotch and Gin into America. Tariff confusion has me pumping the brakes
10 April 2025, 10:47 | Updated: 10 April 2025, 10:58
San Francisco-based ImpEx Beverages import more than 20,000 cases of premium spirits from the UK every year.
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Working with around a dozen specialty Scotch whisky and gin distillers, the company placed $4 million worth of orders in 2024.
But their President and Managing Director has revealed the current uncertainty and confusion around tariffs means they've "had to put the brakes" on some of them.
Speaking to LBC, Sam Filmus - who's been involved in the industry for decades - says importers are like "blind kittens just now".
"If I describe with one word what's going on now - it would be uncertainty. Everyone's interpretation of the rules is different.
"We've been in constant contact with our broker. We're trying to define what exactly the rules are. And while we wait for resolutions on product that has not yet left the distillery, we put a stop, a brake on a few.
"The product that's in transit or already on the water leaves us without any flexibility of decisions. We feel like we're trapped.
"We also had two containers that made it on the 6th, and we don't know if the tariffs count when they cross the border or when it's on the vessel or when it's on the truck.
"It's tonnes of emails back and forth with our broker now who is trying to define if we pay or don't pay the tariffs. We feel like we're blind kitties.
"We work with a broker in UK and it's the same company that is in Los Angeles and the same company that is in east coast, and we're getting different things from the same company. Like nobody knows, nobody knows.
"In the long term, I don't think everyone is going to be able to afford to have it like it is now.
"We're treating it as a temporary decision and we already have a few suppliers that have agreed to go 50/50 (on absolving the cost) with us. But I don't know for how long they're going to be able to keep it like that, and for how long are we going to be able to keep it like this.
"Hopefully this nightmare is going to be gone soon because we have about 42 people that get cheques every two weeks to support their families. In this industry a lot of income is based on commissions on sales and if we start putting the brakes on some products, not only will the American consumer not see those limited releases, but people will start getting less commissions and we don't want them to leave their jobs.
"It's all just a puzzle of things created by one thing - tariffs."
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Sam Filmus is the President & Managing Director of ImpEx Beverages (an importer of fine spirits from around the world) and JVS Imports (a California distribution company).
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