{"id":560275,"date":"2026-05-01T09:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/560275\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:17:09","slug":"king-charles-raising-a-dram-to-trump-after-president-announces-removal-of-tariffs-on-scottish-whisky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/560275\/","title":{"rendered":"King Charles \u2018raising a dram\u2019 to Trump after president announces removal of tariffs on Scottish whisky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

King Charles will be \u201craising a dram\u201d to Donald Trump, Buckingham Palace says, after the US president announced the removal of tariffs on Scottish whisky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump attributed his decision, announced on Thursday, to the intervention of the King and Queen Camilla during their state visit to America.<\/p>\n

Mark Kent, chief executive of the Scottish Distillers Association (SWA), has welcomed the news, saying that \u201cdistillers can breathe a little easier” following the development.<\/p>\n

The move is seen as a vindication for Downing Street’s strategy to send the King on the trip<\/a>, which was aimed at mending the UK-US special relationship and which some considered risky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said that people had wanted Scottish whisky tariffs removed \u201cfor a long time\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the King and Queen \u201cgot me to do something that nobody else was able to do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Charles Charles raises a dram while on a visit to Edinburgh (PA Wire) <\/p>\n

In response, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: \u201cThe King has been informed of President Trump\u2019s warm gesture and sends his sincere gratitude for a decision that will make an important difference to the British whisky industry and the livelihoods it supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis Majesty will be raising a dram to the president\u2019s thoughtfulness and generous hospitality as he departs the US after a most enjoyable state visit for both their majesties in this special anniversary year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: \u201cThis is great news for our scotch whisky industry, which is worth almost \u00a31bn in exports and supports thousands of jobs across the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been advocating for lower tariffs on key exports like whisky, to protect vital jobs and iconic British brands while strengthening our relationship with the US.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper also welcomed the announcement, saying on X: \u201cWe\u2019ve been working for many months to secure this outcome for a key industry which supports thousands of jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House and Number 10 have appeared to be at loggerheads, with the president regularly lambasting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> about his stance over the US-Israeli war against Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"US US President Donald Trump bids farewell to Charles outside the White House (PA Wire) <\/p>\n

But he has developed a rapport with the King and heaped praise on \u201cfantastic\u201d Charles<\/a> and the UK\u2019s historical ties with the US throughout the trip, and at one point was photographed affectionately touching Charles\u2019s knee.<\/p>\n

The monarchy\u2019s soft power diplomacy is seen as its strongest weapon in support of the UK\u2019s overseas interests and it appears Mr Trump has been won over.<\/p>\n

Confirming the news, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: \u201cIn 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\u2019s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople 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!<\/p>\n

\u201cA wonderful Honor to have them both in the U.S.A. President DONALD J. TRUMP.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From From left: Queen Camilla, King Charles, Donald and Melania Trump at the White House (Reuters) <\/p>\n

Mr Trump\u2019s previous 25 per cent Scotch tariff between 2019 and 2021 resulted in the sector losing more than \u00a3600 million, or \u00a31 million a day, the SWA said.<\/p>\n

The SWA has estimated the current 10 per cent tariffs are costing whisky firms \u00a33m in lost exports each week.<\/p>\n

Mr Kent said: \u201cThis deal is a significant boost for the Scotch whisky industry in our most valuable export market. Distillers can breathe a little easier during a period of significant pressure on the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hugely grateful for the sustained efforts on both sides of the Atlantic. For months, many have worked tirelessly to return zero-for-zero tariff trade for whisky and bourbon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe special relationship that the Scotch Whisky and American Whiskey industries share will be reinvigorated by this announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"King Charles will be \u201craising a dram\u201d to Donald Trump, Buckingham Palace says, after the US president announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33685,141,59,57,58,1328,422,78183,50,925,192342,192341,21520,56,54,55,39367],"class_list":["post-560275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-buckingham-palace","tag-donald-trump","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-king-charles","tag-melania-trump","tag-mr-trump","tag-news","tag-queen-camilla","tag-scottish-distillers-association","tag-scottish-whisky","tag-the-white-house","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-us-president"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}