John Swinney sounds alarm over Donald Trump tariff plan on whisky

John Swinney has said he will strongly oppose any US tariffs on whisky after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. He said there could be "real difficulties" if tax was imposed on the iconic imports..

Trump, who defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris comfortably in the bitter contest, has said he wants to impose a 20% tax on imports from across the world.

The move would make it harder for Scottish companies to sell whisky and other items in the vast US market. Swinney said he wanted Harris to win, but this morning congratulated Trump on his win.

Asked about the prospect of tariffs on whisky, he said: “I want to do everything we possibly can do to avoid those tariffs. That will obviously involve engagement with the United Kingdom Government who will have to, and with our support, argue strongly tariffs that could be an obstacle to the trade for Scotch whisky.”

He added: “There is the potential for there to be some real difficulties ahead for the Scotch whisky industry, and other industries, because the United States market is very significant.” Any re-imposition of tariffs must be avoided “at all possible costs”, he said.

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