We have not had a tariff on Scotch whisky imports to the US for 25 years. Since 1994 there has been zero-tariff trade of spirits between the UK and the EU, fuelling growth and prosperity of Scotland’s most important product.

Yesterday at midnight, all that changed – with the implementation of a 25 per cent tariff on US imports of single malt Scotch. Scotch Whisky is the UK’s most valuable food and drink export.

Our industry has grown in value by 10% since 2016.

The Scotch Whisky industry adds £5.5 billion to the economy each year. Scotch Whisky companies have invested over £500 million over the past five years into production facilities, tourism and infrastructure to support the growth of Scotch: fuelled in part by confidence brought about by zero-tariff trade with its most valuable market. To put things into perspective, the total US import value of UK products on the tariff list is around $835 million.

US imports of Single Malt Scotch Whisky is worth around $516.5 million, meaning our industry is shouldering over 60% of the UK’s tariff liability.

This is around eight times that of the next most valuable UK product on the list. And, while single malt represents a significant proportion of Scotch Whisky exports to the US (around a third), for many smaller producers of Scotch it represents everything they export to America.

For a number of Scotch Whisky distillers, single malt has been their gateway to the industry’s most valuable market; the US is the export destination that all Whisky producers in Scotland are aiming for.

America loves its single malt and the industry has long nurtured a country of advocates for Scotland’s national drink.

The imposition of a 25% tariff on single malts will harm these smaller businesses: it means less visibility, higher competition and much higher costs to get their product on the world stage.

A 25% tariff is very bad news for the industry and is all the more disappointing given that Scotch Whisky is completely unconnected to this ongoing trade dispute. There’s little doubt that Scotch has become collateral damage in a trade war that has gradually escalated.

Last year a 25% tariff was imposed on imports of bourbon Whiskey into the EU. Reports suggest that as a result of this tariff, US whiskey producers have seen their exports drop by 20% in just one year.

If something similar were to happen to single malt Scotch Whisky, that could equate to a loss of around $103 million in US import value.

Tit for tat tariffs help neither side, and we have called on the UK, US and EU governments for many months now to find a negotiated solution to the trade disputes, to ensure that duty-free trade can resume between the UK and the US to the benefit of whisky producers, their employees, the communities we work in and consumers everywhere.

The longer these tariffs continue, the greater the risk is that Scotch Whisky loses market share and the competitiveness of Scotch will decline in our most valuable market.

In Scotland and across the UK, we could see a drop in productivity and investment. Ultimately, jobs could be at risk. At the SWA, we’ve been working extensively with our US and EU counterparts in the spirits industries to get these tariffs lifted on both sides of the Atlantic, because nobody wins in a trade war.

The sooner we can return to the zerotariff trade of spirits, the better, so it is imperative that the UK, EU and US take urgent action to de-escalate the trade disputes that have given rise to the recent tariff announcements. Of course, the announcement came in the face of a Brexit headwind that the Scotch Whisky industry has been weathering for some time.

On the UK’s exit from the European Union, the SWA has long argued on behalf of our members that leaving with a deal is the preferred scenario.

A deal will allow for a transition period that will give member companies time to adjust to new measures and export conditions, and allowing us to move into a period of post-Brexit trade with some certainty.

This is particularly important as we approach the busiest quarter of the year: the run up to the festive season.

On balance, the revised Withdrawal Agreement that will be discussed today in Parliament stands up well against the priorities of the Scotch Whisky industry.

If the deal is rejected, it will only add to the uncertainty that the industry has been subjected to over the last three years.

In the face of ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, and this week’s imposition of the 25% tariff on our single malt imports to the US, the Scotch Whisky industry needs support more than ever. Our submission for the Autumn Budget requests at least a freeze in spirits duty for another year.

At the moment, taxation on Scotch Whisky in the UK is 80% higher than the average elsewhere in the EU, and the UK has the fourth highest spirits duty in the whole of the EU.

A freeze in duty, at an absolute minimum, would go some way to forming a package of support that reflects the government’s commitment to supporting the UK’s biggest food and drink export.

- Ian McKendrick is the international director at the Scotch Whisky Association.