Kamal Ghorui
US president Donald Trump has agreed to remove tariffs on British whisky exports to the United States, a move announced at the end of the state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.The decision follows months of efforts by UK ministers to secure relief from the 10 per cent levy imposed last year, which affected sales in the industry’s largest export market.
Earlier appeals by UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Scottish first minister John Swinney had not succeeded in including whisky in tariff-free access under the UK-US trade agreement.“In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey,” Trump said through a post on Truth Social. “People have wanted to do this for a long time. The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!”Trump said in the Oval Office that Kentucky and Scotland had “trade for years and years and years” and that “a lot of different restrictions … and it really stopped them.”Trump said whisky production involves using barrels from one region for the other, noting that the casks are used only once, which he said improves the quality and taste of the final product, adding that he is not a regular drinker.“I just took all the restrictions off, so Scotland and Kentucky can start dealing again. I did it in honour of the King and Queen who just left, they’re heading back, and it was a big deal. They’ve been trying to get this for a long time,” the US president said.The UK exported £971 million worth of whisky to the United States in 2024, a decline of nearly 10 per cent compared with five years earlier.According to the Scotch Whisky Association, the tariffs resulted in an estimated £3 million in lost exports to the US each week. Exports to the US fell by about 15 per cent after the tariffs were introduced in April 2025.The industry was also affected by tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term, when duties rose to 25 per cent amid a trade dispute with Europe, with those measures set to be reintroduced in June if no agreement had been reached.King Charles III on Thursday concluded a four-day state visit to the United States alongside Queen Camilla.On the final day, the royal couple received a formal farewell from Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the White House, laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, and attended a community event in Virginia.
