Donald Trump whisky tariffs 'bad for business' as President urged to reconsider ahead of Scotland visit
John Swinney must tell Donald Trump about the damage the President's trade tariffs are doing to the Scotch whisky industry, a leading trade union has said.
The GMB is urging the First Minister to raise the matter with the Republican leader when they meet in Aberdeen in the coming days.
Trump, who does not drink, will separately meet Swinney and prime minister Keir Starmer when he makes a private visit to Scotland this weekend to visit his two five-star golf courses in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.
Robert Deavy, GMB Scotland senior organiser, said the US president's visit to his courses at Turnberry, where a round can cost £1000, and Aberdeen is the perfect opportunity to tell him US import tariffs on Scotch will not only hit one of Scotland's most important industries but threaten the success of his resorts.
He said: 'Donald Trump insists he is a businessman above all and must be made to understand why tariffs on our whisky are bad for his business. Scotch is a crucial part of our economy and, if our economy suffers, his golf courses will suffer.
"Golfers from around the world are spending a huge amount of money to visit his luxury resorts and they want to visit a successful, prosperous country and that means protecting our whisky industry.'
Scotch whisky accounts for three quarters of Scottish food and drink exports and about a quarter across the UK creating more than 40,000 jobs in Scotland. The industry is also a huge tourist attraction for domestic and international visitors.
The US imported almost £1billion of Scotch last year and is a crucial international market for the industry but companies, including Diageo, Scotland's biggest whisky producer, have warned US tariffs could slash profits by hundreds of millions of pounds.
Deavy added: "The US spends more on imported Scotch than any other country and there will never be a better moment to persuade Donald Trump to return to zero-tariffs on whisky. He has family ties here, investments here and must be urged to protect jobs here.
"There will never be a better moment for John Swinney and Keir Starmer to protect our whisky industry and its thousands of skilled, well-paid jobs."
The US previously imposed a 25 per cent tariff on whisky between October 2019 and March 2021. It caused a 25 per cent fall in scotch exports to the US during the last three months of 2019. More than £600m of exports were lost in total, about £1m a day, over the 18-month period.
The US market is worth about £971million to the Scotch whisky industry, while salmon is worth £225million in exports.
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