Trump scraps Scotch whisky tariffs ‘in honor’ of King Charles

U.S. President Donald Trump repealed tariffs on a key U.K. export on Thursday, after a state visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla appeared to help mend transatlantic relations dampened by a series of political standoffs.

“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,” the president said in a Thursday Truth Social post.

“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!” he added.

Trump later told reporters that he “took all the restrictions off, so Scotland and Kentucky can start dealing again.”

“And I did it in honor of the King and Queen who just left,” he said.

The U.K. government confirmed to CNBC on Friday that the changes announced the previous day would apply to all whisky tariffs, including those on Irish whiskey.

Last year, the U.K. became the first country in the world to secure a trade deal with the Trump administration after the president’s so-called liberation day tariffs were unveiled. The terms of the U.K.’s deal included a 10% blanket tariff on goods imported to the United States.

That meant a pre-existing zero-tariff trade environment for exporters on both sides of the Atlantic was overridden, slapping new duties onto Scotch whisky and other spirits sent to America from Britain.

The Scotch whisky industry employs around 40,000 people in Scotland, where whisky accounted for 23% of all goods exports in 2025. The sector is also a major purchaser of used bourbon barrels from the United States.

Officials from the Scottish and U.K. governments had lobbied for a return to the zero-for-zero tariff conditions on spirit exports, which the Scotch Whisky Association said in September was costing its members £4 million ($5.44 million) per week in lost exports.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, who leads the devolved government in Edinburgh, said in a statement after Trump’s announcement that he had…