Watching Donald Trump’s trade war unfold has been a sobering experience – and not just for our Scotch whisky industry.

In Scotland, much of the focus has naturally been on the country’s major exporters, such as the whisky and salmon industries. However, while the impact on them will be considerable, the effects of trade tariffs will be felt in many more corners of the economy.

There is of course the supply chain issue, as any belt-tightening by big corporations inevitably leads to less work coming to the smaller businesses who supply them.

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Perhaps less obviously, we are already seeing an increase in the problems small businesses are experiencing with late payments. When national and multinational companies get nervous, some unscrupulously use their small business suppliers as a free overdraft and stall on paying what they owe. (A reminder, as if it was needed, of the importance of including a crackdown on this sort of shoddy practice in the forthcoming UK Small Business Strategy.)

But, if we’re in the market for silver linings, at least the tariff war is making us appreciate the sheer breadth of firms trading on the........

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