Message sent to Trump as Laois company goes through the mill

A LAOIS business owner has hit out at US trade barriers after his products were returned for the third time on what he calls “dubious grounds”.

Kevin Scully, owner of The Merry Mill in Vicarstown, has posted a video to the business’s Facebook page in which directly addresses US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Mr Scully says The Merry Mill organic oats firm has been supplying the United States for the last eight years.  It is only within the last three weeks or so that issues have arisen.

“We have a problem”, the business owner begins in the video. “This is the third parcel that has been returned to us this week.” 

He points to a label placed on the returned package by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which states it had exceeded the $100 limit.

Mr Scully says in the video, posted last week, that his firm was unaware of such a limit. “It’s new to us,” he says.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist yesterday (Monday), Mr Scully says that some packages were returned with no explanation.

He denies that any parcel exceeds a limit. “This is a little under €50 in order value. I’m not sure what the exchange rate is at the moment, but I wouldn’t imagine it’s worth $100.” 

In fact, €50 is worth approximately $58.66.

“[The FDA] has an order value of over €100, but we'd be aware of that, and we'd be telling our customers to keep the order value in around €50 just in case it gets rejected”, the businessman says.

“We've been at that since [President Trump] brought in the tariff thing and there was no major issue with that.” 

Mr Scully draws on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s populist slogan ‘Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)’, which is ostensibly a call to promote a healthy lifestyle among American citizens.

“We would love to be a part of that”, Mr. Scully says. The Merry Mill sells certified organic gluten-free oats. The business aims to minimise environmental impact and deliver healthy products.

“We have had very loyal customers over there from the start,” says Mr Scully. “I really feel bad for them because they can't get any product close to the quality that we supply.

He continues: “Good food is medicine … They have children with issues, some of them have children who are chronic celiacs and they're highly sensitive to glyphosate, and it's hard because over there they spray a lot of crops with planes, so that even organic producers are getting caught with glyphosate.” 

 “This isn’t healthy for our bank balance,” the business owner continues in the video, pointing to the returned package as he notes: “This left our mill last Monday, travelled around the world, and it’s back with us today at a cost to us.” 

Mr Scully told this newspaper that the business is at the stage where it will probably have to stop supplying the United States for the moment due to cost.

He says he has been unable to get through to the FDA, adding: “Some of our customers have connections in the field over there and they're trying to see if they can find out for us what's going on.” 

Mr. Scully closes the video by noting that Ireland is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ancestral home. “You could have a look into this, because definitely we will not be a part of making America healthy again unless we can get this through your security system.” 

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday 21 February that he plans to raise the global tariff rate to 15 per cent.