US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would remove tariffs and restrictions on whiskey linked to trade between Scotland and the US state of Kentucky. According to reports from The Associated Press, Trump made the announcement in the Oval Office, stating that the decision was made 'in Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House.' The President explained that he would be removing tariffs and restrictions on whiskey having to do with Scotland's ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on whiskey and bourbon, two very important industries within Scotland and Kentucky. As per The Associated Press, Trump said he took all the restrictions off so Scotland and Kentucky can start dealing again, specifically enhancing trade of barrels between the two regions. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that 'People have wanted to do this for a long time, in that there had been great Inter-Country Trade, especially having to do with the Wooden Barrels used.'
The announcement came after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House on a state visit, during which trade ties and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States were discussed. As reported by The Associated Press, Trump stated that the King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking! According to The Associated Press, Trump noted they were able to achieve the outcome 'without hardly even asking,' framing the policy shift as both an economic and diplomatic win. The visit also included conversations around strengthening economic cooperation between key industries in both countries, with the royal presence playing a crucial role in encouraging the policy shift. The King and Queen moved from the White House to the UK embassy and attended a garden party featuring salmon sandwiches and tea, where they met bipartisan American politicians including Speaker Mike Johnson and Nancy Pelosi.
According to Trump's announcement, the decision was influenced by long-standing trade links between Scotland's whisky industry and Kentucky's bourbon sector, particularly the exchange of materials such as wooden barrels used in production. The announcement comes against the backdrop of earlier tariff measures introduced by the Trump administration in 2025, which included a 10% baseline tariff on most British goods. As per The Associated Press, the Trump administration in 2025 reached a trade framework that put a 10% tax on most goods imported from Britain. The Scotch Whisky Association said its export volume to the U.S. fell 15% after the tariffs were announced in April of last year, highlighting the significant impact on the sector. Trump has used alcohol as a pressure point in his tariff threats, having threatened a 200% tariff on European wine last year, though this threat never came to fruition. Foreign countries have responded in turn with threats on bourbon and other American products, though the Trump administration ultimately exempted cork from tariffs, providing relief to Portugal as the leading supplier of wine bottle corks.
Following the latest announcement, the move is expected to be welcomed by the whisky industry. According to The Associated Press, Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council in the U.S., also interpreted Trump's post as a removal of the 10% tariff on whisky from the United Kingdom. Swonger stated that 'We applaud President Trump for working to restore a proven zero-for-zero model of fair, reciprocal trade between our two nations.' The decision marks a significant shift from earlier trade tensions, with the European Union having imposed a 50% tariff on American whiskey in March 2025 in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, before Trump threatened to escalate the dispute further with a proposed 200% tariff on European wine, champagne, and spirits. Foreign countries have responded in turn with threats on bourbon and other American products, though the Trump administration ultimately exempted cork from tariffs, providing relief to Portugal as the leading supplier of wine bottle corks.
