First Minister John Swinney has met President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss whisky tariffs.<\/p>\n
The meeting took place in the Oval Office, where the President was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n
Mr Swinney says he discussed\u00a0the possibility for a better tariff deal for Scotch whisky.<\/p>\n
A 50-minute meeting took place ahead of the US President\u2019s State Visit to the United Kingdom next week.<\/p>\n
The First Minister confirmed to Mr Trump he would attend the State Banquet at Windsor Palace.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWith the US state visit to the UK just days away, we are now entering the critical days on which hopes of a better tariff deal for Scotch whisky rest. Scotch whisky holds a unique position, as it can only legally be produced in Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring my discussions with President Trump, I made the case to reduce the tariffs on the Scotch whisky industry \u2013 something the US industry supports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States is the largest market for Scotch whisky but Scottish distillers also spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year buying Bourbon casks from Kentucky.<\/p>\n
First Minister of Scotland John Swinney departs the White House following a meeting with US President Donald Trump (Aaron Schwartz\/PA)\u201cThe negotiations themselves are, of course, for the UK negotiating team but given whisky exports to the US were worth almost \u00a31 billion in 2024, its importance to the Scottish economy cannot be underestimated and I am determined to do all that I can to protect and safeguard this iconic Scottish product.\u201d<\/p>\n
The First Minister also raised the international situation including the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Qatar.<\/p>\n
Mr Swinney is in the United States to undertake a series of trade and political meetings involving both main US political parties.<\/p>\n
In a video posted to X, he confirmed he had met Mr Trump and discussed whisky tariffs, in particular, the possibility of no tariffs on Scotch whisky.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI wanted to share an update on my visit to Washington, DC. I spent the morning with representatives of the whisky industry from Scotland and the United States and we discussed the zero-for-zero approach on tariffs, which would help the industry to flourish on both sides of the pond.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve now taken those arguments to the Oval Office to President Trump, and we\u2019ve had a constructive discussion about the reasons why Scotch whisky would benefit from no tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all part of my job to make sure that Scotland\u2019s interests are promoted at all times, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll always do as First Minister.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meeting at the White House was scheduled to last around 30 minutes and took place at 7pm UK time.<\/p>\n
Prior to the meeting at the White House, the First Minister met representatives and member companies of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) and the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) at Mount Vernon, the home of US founding father George Washington and the site of a whisky distillery he opened in 1798 which was operated by his Scottish farm hand, James Anderson.<\/p>\n
The First Minister flew to Washington DC on Tuesday, saying he would be \u201cpressing the case\u201d for a better tariff deal for Scotch whisky in key talks in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First Minister John Swinney has met President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss whisky tariffs. The meeting took place in the Oval Office, where the President was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr Swinney says he discussed\u00a0the possibility for a better tariff deal for Scotch whisky. A 50-minute meeting took place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n