Prosperity is built when governments get out of the way of industry, letting producers produce, traders trade, and consumers consume, writes Emmanuel Igwe
Don’t toast Trump’s whisky U‑turn while Britain still hammers Scotch at home
08 May 2026
This article was first published in LBC.
Every second, 43 bottles of Scotch Whisky are shipped from Scotland, amounting to 1.3 billion bottles a year. In 2025, these exports were worth £5.36 billion.
Until last week, every bottle destined for the United States was hit with a 10 per cent tariff, a measure introduced as part of Trump’s broad package of import duties in April last year—the so-called ‘Liberation Day’. After King Charles III’s state visit last week, President Trump announced that he was removing the tariff. Good news for British distillers, and they should be raising a glass to that.
The damage caused by this tariff to Whisky producers is real and measurable. Within the first eight months after the tariff was issued, export volumes to the United States fell by 15 per cent (£4 million in lost revenue per week), marking a seismic blow to Whisky production. This led to job losses and some distilleries pausing production to adjust to the new market reality. An industry that supports 66,000 jobs and generates £7.1 billion to the British economy, had to sit and watch its largest market wither—not because demand from the United States was dwindling, but because the US Government had decided to make the pleasure of a glass of Whisky more expensive for its citizens.
This is the painful reality of every tariff. Not only does it affect imported goods, but it is also a tax on consumers in the country that imposes the tariff. Scottish workers worked less as production fell, while American consumers paid more as tariff rates made each bottle of whisky more expensive. It was always apparent that a tariff on whisky would only add more friction to trade without improving American domestic production.
Kentucky has spent two centuries perfecting bourbon, while Scotland has spent four centuries perfecting Whisky. Casks are shared across both markets, with bourbon casks shipped to Scotland to age single malts, for instance. This is comparative advantage in action. Placing a tariff on this product is equivalent to a tax on exchange, contributing to the weakening of the supply chain that makes both industries possible.
While Britain should welcome this climbdown with enthusiasm, we should not throw caution to the wind. The 25 per cent US tariff on Single Malt Scotch Whisky—first imposed in October 2019 due to the Boeing-Airbus aircraft subsidy dispute—is due to return in July, unless it is properly negotiated away.
Yet it is hypocritical of our Government to celebrate the end of President Trump’s tariff. HM Treasury has inflicted a blow to the industry by raising spirits duty by 17 per cent in the past three years. Between 2024-25 and 2025-26, British spirits revenue dropped by £94 million.
Prosperity is built when governments get out of the way of industry, letting producers produce, traders trade, and consumers consume. Trump has lowered his tariff on Whisky. Now is the Chancellor’s turn to cut the spirits duty.