Whisky leaders urge Starmer to 'seize the moment' in Trump meeting to ditch tariffs
Donald Trump is poised for Aberdeen talks with Keir Starmer and John Swinney later this month.
The Prime Minister has been told to “seize the moment” and thrash out a deal with Donald Trump to ditch his controversial tariffs on Scotch whisky when the pair meet in Aberdeen later this month.
Sir Keir is poised for a showdown with Mr Trump over energy after the US President demanded efforts are made to “bring back the oil” to Aberdeen ahead of a meeting in Scotland with the Prime Minister.
Mr Trump will meet Sir Keir and First Minister John Swinney in Aberdeen later this month as part of a private visit to the UK.
The Prime Minister is now facing calls to reignite a push for the US President to remove his tariffs on Scotch whisky.
And last night, Mr Trump said he and Sir Keir will “refine” the trade deal between the UK and the US at the meeting.
A spokesperson for the Scotch Whisky Association told The Scotsman the Prime Minister should use the meeting in Aberdeen to strike a better deal for the industry.
He said: "President Trump's visit to Scotland is a timely opportunity for the UK government to re-engage in discussions to remove the tariffs on Scotch whisky in the industry's largest global market.
"The Prime Minister should seize this moment to strike a deal to return the zero-tariff agreement which has underpinned industry jobs, investment and growth in both Scotland and in the US.”
Ahead of his visit, Mr Trump has insisted that UK politicians should “get rid of the windmills” in the North Sea and instead “bring back the oil” - setting up potential tension with the Prime Minister.
Sir Keir’s government has pledged to end new oil and gas licences for the North Sea, with scientific evidence showing new fossil fuels projects are not consistent with global commitments to limit temperature rises.
His government has also handed fossil fuel companies behind the Rosebank oil development and the Jackdaw gas field a route to being granted environmental approval after their initial permission was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court.
The Labour UK government has been under intense pressure to reverse its manifesto pledge to ban new licences and bring an immediate end to the windfall tax, known as the energy profits levy - which has received heavy criticism from the offshore industry and is not due to expire until 2030.
Mr Swinney will also meet Mr Trump on the private visit to Aberdeen, while the Scottish Government has long-delayed its energy strategy and has muddied the waters on where it stands on new fossil fuel developments in the North Sea.
The UK and Scottish governments have vowed to ramp up renewable energy as part of efforts to tackle the climate crisis - with the focus on offshore wind turbines.
Mr Trump has previously had a run-in with Scottish wind farms before when in 2019, his company, Trump International, lost a court battle to stop a major renewables development being built in the North Sea off Aberdeen after claiming the 11 turbines would spoil views from his Menie golf course.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Trump said Aberdeen was “the oil capital of Europe” but claimed it should “get rid of the windmills".
He said: "We're going to have a meeting with... a state meeting with the prime minister, and that's going to be up in Aberdeen, which is the oil capital of Europe, they should bring it back too.
"They have so much oil there. They should get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil.
"[Because] the windmills are really detrimental to the beauty of Scotland and every other place they go up."
The US president later told American reporters the pair will have a meeting “probably in Aberdeen” during his private visit to Scotland.
A trade deal struck between the UK and the US earlier this year reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports, but questions remain over whether steel imports into America will face 50 per cent tariffs.
There is a baseline tariff of 10 per cent for most other imports.
Mr Trump’s July 9 deadline for when he said he would start implementing tariffs on trade partners has been and gone.
Mr Trump said: “We’re going to be meeting with the British Prime Minister, very respectful, and we are going to have a meeting with him, probably in Aberdeen, and we’re going to do a lot of different things.
“We’re going to also refine the trade deal that we’ve made. So we’ll be meeting mostly […] at probably one of my properties, or maybe not, depending on what happens, but we’ll be in Aberdeen, in Scotland, meeting with the Prime Minister.”
Climate campaigners have accused Mr Trump of ignorance over renewable energy and warned continuing to burn fossil fuels will do nothing to bring down bills.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: “Donald Trump clearly knows nothing about the North Sea other than the view from his golf course.”
The Scottish Government said the US president's visit would be a chance to "promote the interests of Scotland".
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But Scottish Labour deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, has called on the First Minister to ensure Scotland gets a better trade deal with the US in his discussions with Mr Trump.
She said: "I would expect the First Minister to meet with the elected US President.
"I want him not just to sing the praises of Scotland but actually to secure for very important sectors of our economy better trade deals in partnership with the United Kingdom , so that whisky, salmon, all these things that we know export well to the US are given a lift up."
Mr Trump, who often speaks fondly of Scotland, saw large scale protests in Glasgow , Edinburgh and Aberdeen during his last presidential visit in 2018.
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