First Minister John Swinney flies to Washington on mission to reduce whisky tariffs

The First Minister is flying to Washington to try to reduce import tariffs on Scotch whisky in the US.

John Swinney will meet industry and political leaders in the American capital tomorrow.

This is a last minute trip and comes ten days ahead of Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK.

The UK/US trade deal secured a 10% floor for most things imported to the US from the UK.

It’s better than the deals secured by most other countries.

But the First Minister says he will do anything he can to get a better deal on Scotch whisky – which can only be made in Scotland.

When President Trump was in Scotland over the summer, STV News asked him if he would take another look at the tariff deal on whisky.

He said he wanted Scotland “to thrive”. The US President wasn’t aware of the issues with whisky