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U.S. President Donald Trump repealed tariffs on a key U.K. export on Thursday, after a state visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla appeared to help mend transatlantic relations dampened by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 made it his mission “to do everything possible to lift U.S. tariffs on our whisky.”

“People’s jobs were at stake,” he said. “Millions of pounds were being lost every month from the Scottish economy … I express my thanks to the President for listening and acting to lift the tariffs. And Scotland is grateful to His Majesty the King for the key role he played in this tremendous success.”

The whisky industry had also been facing the prospect of tariffs on single malts returning to 25% in the coming months if a deal was not made with the White House, as a five-year suspension on those tariffs was set to expire.

In a statement on Thursday, Mark Kent, CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, noted that the U.S. is the industry’s most valuable export market.

“Distillers can breathe a little easier during a period of significant pressure on the sector,” he said. “For months, many have worked tirelessly to return zero-for-zero tariff trade for whisky and bourbon. The special relationship that the Scotch Whisky and American Whiskey industries share will be reinvigorated by this announcement.”

The King and Queen concluded a four-day state visit to the U.S. on Thursday, which included a series of engagements in Washington, D.C., including an address by the king to a Joint Meeting of Congress, and a state dinner hosted by the president and First Lady.

King Charles received a standing ovation in Congress after delivering a speech that touted the value of the so-called transatlantic “special relationship,” calling for the U.K. and the U.S. to stand united in a “volatile and dangerous” era.

“The challenges we face are too great for any one Nation to bear alone,” he said, before reminding Congress that NATO came to America’s aid in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York City.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s relationship with Trump soured in recent weeks, as the president took issue with the U.K. government pushing back against his interest in Greenland and requests for assistance in Iran.

Earlier on in his second term, Trump had described Starmer as a friend, despite their political differences, and said the U.K. was protected from the brunt of his trade policies “because I like them.”

Many onlookers credited King Charles with rescuing the “special relationship” from jeopardy during his four-day trip this week.

Following Tuesday’s state dinner, Trump labeled the king a “great friend,” telling reporters: “when you like the king of a country so much, it probably helps your relationship with the prime minister.”

In an emailed statement on Friday morning, Buckingham Palace said the king had been informed of Trump’s “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.”

“His Majesty will be raising a dram to the President’s thoughtfulness and generous hospitality as he departs the U.S.,” the palace’s spokesperson said.

Matthew Barzun, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. under President Barack Obama, told CNBC’s Tania Bryer on Thursday that King Charles’ so-called soft power “certainly increased the reservoir of trust, respect and understanding” between Britain and the United States.

“The job of diplomacy, or a diplomat, is to leave that reservoir a bit higher than you found it,” he said. “It goes down with time, and sometimes you get big shocks to the system, and you lose a lot of trust, respect and understanding. In that context, I think there was very quantifiable benefits to this visit. I think that reservoir was raised. It is higher than before that week, and that’s important.”