No guarantee Government approach to US tariffs will prevail – Douglas Alexander

There are “no guarantees” that the UK Government’s approach on US tariffs will prevail, the Secretary of State for Scotland has warned, as the whisky industry prepares for further tariffs.

US President Donald Trump has said the UK could face a further 10% tariff rise as the country stands against his plans to acquire Greenland.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Breakfast show, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said he understood there “are jobs and livelihoods in Scotland” on the line with the new trade deal threat.

He said: “Firstly, I can assure the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and the Scotch whisky industry that we absolutely get it, and the Scotch whisky industry is very high up our agenda in terms of what we are trying to achieve.

“We were the first country in the world to secure a trade deal with the United States. We have continuing work that we’re aiming to do in relation to whisky.

“We have been talking to the American administration for many months in relation to whisky. I’m acutely conscious, as the Scottish Secretary, that Scotch whisky’s largest export market by value is the United States.

“We recognise the importance of the United States. The SWA estimated that the 10% tariff on UK goods was costing the sector, I think, about £4 million per week last year.

“What we’ve seen from President Trump over the last 40 hours is the threatening of an additional 10% tariff on the UK and other Nato allies, with spirit tariffs currently about 10% for the UK and 15% for the European Union.”

First Minister John Swinney travelled to the US in September to hold trade talks with the president and other US officials to gain a better trade deal on whisky tariffs.

Mr Alexander said there were “no guarantees” the Government’s approach on US tariffs would prevail, adding: “I understand that there are jobs and livelihoods in Scotland that are on the line, but I think that vindicates the approach that the UK Government is taking.

“I need to be open, there are no guarantees that our approach will prevail but there will be earnest, hard work, there will be a track record of success, and there will be a determination to advance the British national interest with a very clear-eyed sense as to what that involves.”

Mr Trump stated in a social media post on Tuesday morning that the UK’s Chagos Islands deal was an  “act of great stupidity and is another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.

Mr Alexander said: “Well, previously, when the Prime Minister visited with President Trump in the White House, President Trump, and indeed his administration, welcomed the deal that guarantees the ability of the Chagos Islands to be used in the defence not just of the United Kingdom, but also of the United States and of Western allies.

“I’m conscious that we’ve seen another series of Truth Social posts come in overnight. I appreciate that these are difficult and challenging times, and deadly serious issues, but that’s why I think the approach that the Prime Minister set out yesterday is actually the right one.”

Mr Alexander said that Arctic security “is a multilateral issue”.

He said: “Firstly, Greenland’s future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes. Secondly, that the use of tariffs to try and pressurise allies is simply wrong. And, thirdly, by its very character, Arctic security is a multilateral issue.

“The way that the Russian northern fleet reach the North Atlantic off the coast of Scotland and elsewhere is via the Arctic. So, we have a shared interest, as Nato, in the defence and security of Greenland.”