America and Scotland Agree to Drink Again. Trade Policy Remembers Its Purpose.

What Happened

The Trump administration has reversed tariffs on Scotch whisky, reopening the US market — the largest export market for Scotch — to normal trade. The tariffs, originally imposed in 2019 as part of a dispute over EU aircraft subsidies (the Airbus-Boeing WTO case), had added a 25% levy on single malt Scotch, costing the Scottish whisky industry an estimated $600 million in lost exports over several years.

Historical Context

The Scotch whisky tariff was never really about whisky. It was a retaliatory measure in the long-running Boeing-Airbus WTO dispute, which dates back to 2004 — a 15-year argument that turned a luxury drink into a bargaining chip. The US and EU have paused and resumed these tariffs multiple times since 2021. Trade disputes of this kind historically resolve eventually; the same pattern played out with steel tariffs (1980s, 2002, 2018), soybean tariffs, and countless others. Industries endure, adapt, and recover. The Scotch whisky industry survived Prohibition (1920–1933), which was a rather more total market closure than a 25% tariff.

What's In Your Control

Whether you choose to buy a bottle of Scotch to mark the occasion. Distillers in Scotland will handle the rest.

Does This Require Action?

If you work in the Scotch whisky trade: good news, act accordingly. If you are a consumer who enjoys Scotch: prices may gradually ease. Everyone else: awareness only — and perhaps mild satisfaction that a sensible outcome occasionally emerges from trade negotiations.