Trump’s parting gift for King Charles is tariff relief on UK whiskey
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King Charles III and Queen Camilla wrapped up a successful U.S. visit and are taking home a gift from President Donald Trump: a withdrawn tariff.
Trump indicated the U.S. would lift the 10% tariff on whiskey from the U.K., which would include Scotch. The temporary tariff was among those instituted in February after the Supreme Court struck down most of the tariffs issued by Trump on “Liberation Day.”
In a Truth Social post the afternoon of Thursday, April 30, Trump said, “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 having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky.”
Many Kentucky distilleries, including Angel’s Envy and Old Forester, offer whiskies that are finished in wooden casks previously used to age Scotch. At the same time, U.S. distillers send $300 million in whiskey casks to the U.K. for aging of Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky, Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, told USA TODAY.
The U.K. currently doesn’t have a tariff on U.S. spirits. The U.S. lifting the 10% tariff “will contribute mightily to the U.S. hospitality industry. The U.S. and U.K. whiskey industry is so intertwined,” he said.
The sharing of barrels to age spirits in “is an important element … (of) the economic ties between our two countries,” Swonger said. “We’re just thankful President Trump made this commitment to the king and we’re celebrating today. Toast, not tariffs.”
The agreement give U.K. whiskey preferential duty access is part of ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and the U.K. on American and British goods, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said April 30 in a statement.
As part of this agreement, he said, “the U.S. and U.K. have decided that in continuing its implementation, the United States will allow preferential duty access for whiskey produced in the United Kingdom, along with preferential treatment for other American and British goods.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump said, “People have wanted to do this for a long time, in that there had been great Inter-Country Trade, especially having to do with the Wooden Barrels used. The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking! A wonderful Honor to have them both in the U.S.A.”
Contributing: ReutersMike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
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