Trump’s £6bn tariff attack rocks Scotch whisky industry

Deputy Scottish Political Editor

The new duty is part of a raft of measures being imposed by Donald Trump’s administration in retaliation against EU subsidies given to aircraft maker Airbus.

single malt whisky is one of the exports facing a new tariff, along with cashmere sweaters, dairy products, pork, books and some machinery.

Whisky exports to the Us were worth $1.3billion (£1billion) last year. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has given the Us the green light to impose tariffs on up to $7.5billion (£6.1billion) of goods from the EU as retaliation for Airbus subsidies.

President Trump, who is of scots descent – his mother Mary Anne MacLeod was born on the Isle of Lewis before emigrating to the Us in 1930 – has announced plans to impose tariffs on EU cheeses, olives and whisky, as well as aircraft and aircraft parts.

During First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood yesterday, Nicola sturgeon raised concerns over the impact of the move on scotland’s whisky industry as she warned against a trade war with the Us.

she said: ‘The news this morning is profoundly worrying for scotch whisky and for the other scottish products. I discussed the issue directly with them [scotch Whisky Association] just a couple of weeks ago and we will continue to encourage the UK Government to support a negotiated settlement to this.

‘We support the efforts of the EU to find that negotiated settlement.

‘It is in no one’s interest to have trade wars like this. Everyone ends up being a loser. I would encourage UK ministers to work hard to do so.’

Meanwhile, the scotch Whisky Association (sWA) has called on both parties in the argument to try to de-escalate their trade dispute.

Chief executive Karen Betts said: ‘The tariff will undoubtedly damage the scotch whisky sector.

‘We expect to see a negative impact on investment and job creation in scotland, and longer-term impacts on productivity and growth across the industry and our supply chain.

‘We believe the tariff will also have a cumulative impact on consumer choice.’

The scotch whisky industry directly employs about 11,000 people in scotland, and many more indirectly through its supply chain. More than 7,000 of the jobs are in rural areas. HMRC data and sWA analysis shows the Us market accounted for 22 per cent of global value and 10.7 per cent of global volumes of scotch exports last year.

Gary smith, GMB scotland secretary, said: ‘This is a troubling glimpse into the postBrexit future and everyone with the scottish economy’s best interests at heart should be concerned about our prospects following this development.’

scotland Office minister Colin Clark, said: ‘The UK Government is working closely with the Us, EU and European partners to support a negotiated settlement and avoid these tariffs coming into force.’

‘Negative impact on investment’