By Scott Wright
SCOTCH whisky distillers have reignited their campaign for the removal of damaging import tariffs in the industry’s most valuable overseas market.
Whisky exports to the US plunged by 27 per cent in the last quarter of 2019 following the imposition of a 25% import tariff on single malt by the Trump administration in October. Now, as talks between the UK and the US on a free trade agreement prepare to begin, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has made a fresh plea to end a policy it said is costing the industry millions of pounds in lost exports.
The US introduced the tariffs amid an ongoing trade dispute with the European Union (EU) in retaliation to subsidies given by Brussels to Airbus. The steel and aluminium dispute had earlier seen the EU impose a 25% tariff on imports of American whiskey to the bloc, which contributed to exports of the spirit from the US falling by 27% in 2019.The SWA has said the tariffs, which also extend to cashmere, shortbread and whisky liqueur, will cost the industry at least £100m in exports over a year.
Chief executive Karen Betts said: “We are very pleased that formal trade negotiations have begun between the UK and the US governments. Now more than ever, keeping trade free, fair and flowing will be key to the UK’s recovery as we grapple with the human and economic costs of Covid-19.
“In these difficult times, trade disputes and tariffs are compounding the damage to businesses. Scotch whisky and American whiskey distillers, bars and restaurants need to find ways through the human and economic crisis brought on by Covid-19. Removing tariffs on whiskies would be very significant for us right now.”
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