Scotland’s First Minister has been urged to “reach out” to Donald Trump and try and have the threat of further tariffs on Scotch whisky “removed”.
Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser urged John Swinney to build on the “warm relationship” he has with the billionaire US president, after holding lengthy talks in the White House with him last year.
The plea for action from the SNP leader came as Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander warned that there are “no guarantees” that the UK Government’s approach on US tariffs will prevail.
President Trump has already said the UK could face a further 10% tariff rise as the country stands against his plans to acquire Greenland.
Mr Alexander told BBC Radio Scotland that he understood there are “jobs and livelihoods in Scotland” on the line with the new trade deal threat.
He stressed he was “acutely conscious” that the US is the largest export market by value for Scotch whisky, adding that trade body the Scotch Whisky Association had estimated the existing 10% tariff on UK goods is costing the sector “about £4 million per week last year”.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes meanwhile said that any further tariffs from the US would be “deeply damaging for jobs and economic growth across Scotland”.
She told MSPs at Holyrood the Scottish Government is “deeply concerned by the proposed use of tariffs by the President of the United States in order to change Greenland’s future”.
Ms Forbes insisted: “Greenland’s future should be decided by the people of Greenland, and threats of tariffs should not be a bargaining chip in place of reasonable dialogue between international partners.”
Adding that “any US tariff increase on the UK would be a concern for Scottish exporters”, Ms Forbes was asked what action the First Minister is taking.
In September, Mr Swinney flew to Washington to meet the US president, making the case for the Scotch whisky industry with him in White House talks.
Mr Fraser asked if there was “anything the First Minister can do to try to reach out to President Trump, to try to build on that warm relationship to try to get this threat removed?”
He made the plea as he too warned that “further tariffs could be devastating for the Scottish economy”.
Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene meanwhile suggested the UK Government should implement an “immediate cut to whisky duty of 5%”.
The Lib Dem MSP said this would “show our whisky industry that we are 100% behind it” and would also “show President Trump, that free trade will always trump isolationism”.
