John Swinney using ‘soft power’ in whisky talks with US impressive: Gethins

John Swinney has been using Scotland’s “soft power” in an impressive way to press the case for a trade deal on Scotch whisky, an SNP MP has said.

Stephen Gethins described Donald Trump as a “very transactional President” and said that it is “crucial” that Scotland’s First Minister was able to meet with him in person to discuss the issue.

Mr Swinney met Mr Trump in the White House earlier in September amid concerns from the Scotch whisky sector about the impact of tariffs, currently levied at 10% on whisky exported from Scotland to the US.

However Mr Gethins, appearing on The Sunday Show on BBC Scotland, said more than individual efforts are needed and called on the the UK Government to do more to push for a trade deal.

He was asked whether it has been a “conscious decision” to foster a better relationship between Scotland and the United States, following meetings between Mr Trump and Mr Swinney in Aberdeenshire and the US and the First Minister’s attendance at a state banquet for the US president in London this week.

Mr Gethins said: “Well I think it has.

“Look, John Swinney and Donald Trump may not agree on a whole range of issues, but John Swinney doesn’t get to decide who’s the US president, the American voters get to decide who the US president is.

“But nevertheless, whoever sits in the Oval Office, whoever is the incumbent has a huge impact on jobs and investment in Scotland.

“Now I’m somebody with whisky distilleries, for example, in my constituency, and so if you work in these industries that are directly affected, you would expect your First Minister to be able to make the case for your job directly.

“And John Swinney has worked really hard.

“Remember, he’s done this without the weight of a Foreign Office behind him or anything like that, but using Scotland’s soft power, using his office to make the case direct.

“I’ve been impressed, but not just people in my party – I think people across political spectrum have been impressed about the time he’s been able to get with him.”

The Scotch Whisky Association has said that the tariffs are losing the industry around £4 million a week.

Mr Gethins, MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, was asked what stage matters are at in terms of securing a better deal on whisky tariffs.

He said: “Well, that’s something, again, the Foreign Office will need to push for that.

“What I would like to see would be, it can’t just be individual efforts.

“I think it’s incredibly important the First Minister was in there, and we know he’s a very transactional president who will deal with the person in front of him rather than the layers of bureaucracy so crucial that John Swinney got in there in front of the President, a huge achievement.”

The UK Government pointed to comments Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle made on BBC Breakfast on Friday, when he said: “We are really engaged with Scottish whisky, for example. These are tough, knotty issues that no other country in the world has deals on.

“We’ve already got the best deal, and of course, we’re going to carry on discussing with and talking with America to get it improved even further.

“But let’s be really clear. We are talking about trying to improve our deal from already having the best deal in the world.”