By Isaac
President Trump announced Thursday that he is removing certain tariffs and restrictions on Scotch whisky, crediting King Charles III and Queen Camilla with persuading him to make a change that others had failed to secure. The move came the same day the U.S. Trade Representative’s office confirmed preferential duty access for whiskey produced in the United Kingdom.
Trump connected the decision to Scotland’s ability to work with Kentucky on whiskey and bourbon, a nod to the barrel trade and supply chain links between Scottish distillers and America’s bourbon country. The announcement landed just days after the royal couple’s White House state visit.
The story drew immediate international coverage.
PBS NewsHour, carrying the Associated Press report by Josh Boak, laid out the trade context and the real economic stakes behind the announcement:
The 2025 trade framework had placed a 10% tax on most goods imported from Britain, and the Scotch industry felt the hit fast. The Scotch Whisky Association reported that export volume to the United States fell 15% after those tariffs were announced in April of last year, making the American market a central pressure point for Scottish distillers.
Trump connected the change to barrels and the trade relationship between Scotland and Kentucky, where almost all of the world’s bourbon is produced. Scottish officials and spirits industry leaders treated the announcement as relief for Scotch itself, even though the first Trump post left some room for questions about the exact scope. Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney called it a major success and said jobs and millions of pounds in economic value had been at stake.
The Distilled Spirits Council in the United States also welcomed the action, framing it as a move back toward reciprocal spirits trade between the two countries. That response matters because the fight was never only about Scotch drinkers. It also touched Kentucky bourbon producers, barrel makers, importers, retailers, and a transatlantic supply chain that had been caught inside the tariff fight.