WITH Joe Biden now in the White House, the United Kingdom has the opportunity to re-set our relationship with the United States.
It is a chance for both nations to work together to reverse some of the economic damage done by Trump and his administration.
This will take time and it will not be easy. One particularly harmful legacy Trump leaves behind is the punitive tariffs imposed on Scotch whisky and other vital Scottish exports.
When businesses are working flat out to weather the storm of the coronavirus, the 25 per cent tariff imposed on Scotch whisky and other UK goods was an act of economic and diplomatic vandalism.
READ MORE: Move to end damaging whisky tariffs taken
Now, with a new President and a new administration in place, the UK government must seize this opportunity and appeal to Joe Biden to reverse Trump’s harmful tariffs.
To fully resolve this issue, we will have to rely on the goodwill of the new Biden administration, as the UK government has already given away some of its bargaining power.
On December 7th, Ministers announced that the UK would unilaterally withdraw from the Boeing-Airbus dispute at the end of the Brexit transition period.
They bet on Trump reciprocating by agreeing a mini UK-US trade deal before leaving office, the central plank of which would be the removal of the 25 per cent whisky tariff. That always looked a very foolish gamble and so it has proven to be.
Trump has gone, with no deal agreed. The gamble has very visibly backfired. The Scotch whisky industry is still facing 25 per cent tariffs yet the government has thrown away the main leverage they had to get those tariffs removed, with nothing to show for it in return.
With a new administration, we have new hope. There will be many priorities for the UK as we seek to build a new relationship with President Biden. But it is imperative that Boris Johnson and Liz Truss do not to forget about the Scottish whisky industry in discussions between the UK and US. Resolving this issue must be high up on the UK’s agenda.
I will meet Scotch whisky producers today to hear how crucial it is that the US lifts these tariffs on Scottish goods. And today I urge the UK Government to commit to two things to support our producers through this period.
First, give some certainty to the industry by ensuring the whisky sector is given regular feedback by Ministers on discussions that have taken place with the US. And second, give our producers a clear answer as to when the Government will deliver the promised review of duty taxation. This is something many producers have been holding out for.
Scotland needs a strong relationship with the US and I will work with the Government to help build those ties in the coming months. But the message from Scotland’s whisky industry must be heard. We can’t afford for the Government to get this wrong again.
Sir Keir Starmer is the leader of the Labour party
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel