Tariff war will be a ‘jobs killer’ for Tayside and Fife

A tariff war between the UK and US will “strangle” any hopes for economic recovery in Tayside and Fife’s whisky industry, a union said.

GMB Scotland has told the Office of the United States Trade Representative that Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on single malt imports will be a “jobs killer” on both sides of the Atlantic, and urged the UK Government to “get in the game” and defend the sector.

Union leaders say the stand-off has already resulted in a 30% drop in exports since October, leading to industry losses of around £30 million a month.

With the threat of further tariffs on whisky blends and white spirits, GMB Scotland believes the consequences could be dire.

GMB Scotland organiser Keir Greenaway said: “Scotland cannot do without a thriving whisky and spirits sector but, if it’s to support our post-covid recovery and post-brexit future, we need to stand up to Trump and end these tariffs – and if the UK Government isn’t prepared to do this, then we’ll do it ourselves.”

According to industry figures, more than 10,000 people are directly employed in the Scotch whisky sector in Scotland.

A further 40,000 jobs across the UK are supported by the industry, 7,000 of them in rural Scotland.

Fife drinks giant Diageo highlighted its concern for the industry, with global supply chain boss Ewan Andrew fearing for smaller distilleries in particular.

“Right now I am sure it has had an impact on some of their businesses but, if it were to escalate, that really would be difficult for Scotland,” he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the tariffs “unjustified” and pledged to “fight them every step of the way”, but was criticised for failing to raise them in recent talks.

He said: “It is my hope we will get a free trade deal not just with our EU friends and partners but able to use that free trade deal to do a parallel deal with other countries including the US.”

At that stage “the question of tariffs on Scotch whisky should become completely historic, forgotten”.