It’s not every week that Scotland’s most famous export finds itself at the heart of White House diplomacy. Yet on September 9, 2025, First Minister John Swinney strode into the Oval Office for a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump, determined to make the case for Scotch whisky—and, by extension, the livelihoods of thousands across Scotland. The issue? A 10% tariff on Scotch whisky and most UK goods entering the US, a cost that’s been gnawing at the industry’s bottom line and threatening jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Swinney’s trip to Washington DC was anything but a routine diplomatic jaunt. According to BBC and PA Media, the First Minister had already been on the move this year, visiting New York in April for the annual Tartan Week celebrations and previously meeting Trump at his golf resort in Aberdeenshire in July. That initial encounter, Swinney told reporters, put whisky tariffs squarely on the trade agenda. “When President Trump came to Scotland in July, we raised Scotch whisky with him and got it on the trade deal agenda. Now, with just over a week to go before the President makes a state visit to the UK, we have a critical chance to follow up and make the case for a better deal,” Swinney said, as quoted by Daily Record.
The stakes are high, and not just for Scotland. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has warned that the current tariffs cost the industry about £4 million every week—roughly £200 million annually—while the US bourbon industry, whose used barrels are vital for maturing Scotch, also faces collateral damage. In fact, over the course of Trump’s second term, $1.2 billion (£0.88 billion) worth of old bourbon barrels have been exported to Scottish distilleries, according to SWA director Graeme Littlejohn. “We’re seeing less Scotch whisky going into the market and we’re seeing damage done to the industry. That means less trade to not only those cask manufacturers—those cooperages—but also to wholesale distribution and hospitality across the United States,” Littlejohn told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland.
The meeting in the Oval Office, which lasted around 50 minutes, was described by Swinney as “constructive.” He wasn’t alone—UK ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson accompanied him, while Trump was expected to have Secretary of State Marco Rubio by his side. The agenda ranged beyond whisky, with discussions touching on the situation in Gaza and Israel’s air strikes in Qatar. But the whisky tariff issue dominated, with Swinney pushing what he called a “zero for zero” approach: eliminating tariffs on both Scotch and US bourbon to let both industries flourish. “We discussed how the zero for zero approach on tariffs would help the industry to flourish on both sides of the pond. I’ve now taken those arguments to the Oval Office, to President Trump, and we had a constructive discussion about the reasons why Scotch whisky would benefit from no tariffs,” Swinney posted on X after the meeting.
The First Minister’s lobbying is backed by both the Scottish and UK governments, though formal trade negotiations remain the UK’s domain. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his team are also seeking further concessions, having already secured a 10% tariff on most UK goods—5% lower than the rate applied to EU imports. Whether this latest push will yield results remains to be seen, particularly with Trump’s high-profile state visit to the UK looming from September 17 to 19.
The timing is no accident. Swinney and his team believe there’s a narrow window of opportunity to influence US policy before the state visit, a view echoed by Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson. “Scotland’s First Minister is pressing the case for one of Scotland’s most important industries,” Robertson told BBC Radio Scotland. “He will be meeting the people who are going to be intimately involved in setting tariff rates and considering whether there should be an exemption for Scotch whisky.”
That “exemption” is more than a technicality. About a fifth of all Scotch whisky is exported to the US, making it a market worth £971 million in 2024 alone, according to the SWA. The industry employs thousands in Scotland, and its strategic importance to rural and island economies can’t be overstated. “The Scotch whisky industry is hugely important to the economy of Scotland,” Littlejohn emphasized. “It is strategically important to rural and island economies, and the tariffs are doing significant damage at the moment, losing the industry around £4m a week.”
There’s also a unique transatlantic twist: Scotch whisky is typically matured in old bourbon barrels, forging a direct link between Scottish distillers and American cooperages. “This isn’t a case of US business versus imports to the US. Both agree that they want no tariffs. That’s a real strength,” Swinney said. US bourbon makers, too, have voiced concerns about the tariffs’ impact on their lucrative barrel exports to Scotland. As Robertson put it, “Making tariff decisions that would impact negatively on bourbon will impact negatively on Scotch and it doesn’t need to be that way.”
Of course, the shadow of past trade disputes hangs over the current negotiations. In 2019, during Trump’s first presidency, the US imposed a 25% tariff on Scotch whisky as part of a wider row with the EU over airplane subsidies—a move that cost the industry more than £600 million in lost exports before the tariffs were suspended for five years in 2021. That truce is set to expire in June 2026, and the SWA is pushing for a permanent resolution to prevent the higher rate’s return.
While much of the focus has been on economics and trade, the visit wasn’t without political intrigue. Swinney stayed with UK ambassador Lord Mandelson in Washington DC, a decision that drew media attention due to Mandelson’s past association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein—an issue Swinney’s spokesman declined to address. Mandelson himself told the BBC he “has long been clear that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein.”
As Swinney’s whirlwind US visit wrapped up, he left Washington DC having made his case to the highest levels of American power. Whether the tariffs will be reduced or scrapped altogether before Trump’s state visit remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the fight for Scotch whisky’s future is very much alive, with both economic logic and political will on the line. The next chapter will unfold when Trump touches down in the UK later this month, and distillers on both sides of the Atlantic will be watching—perhaps with a dram in hand—to see if the “zero for zero” vision becomes reality.
For now, the whisky industry waits, hoping that diplomacy, economics, and a touch of Scottish persistence will deliver a toast-worthy outcome.