‘Half a Billion Pounds in Lost Exports’ as US Tariffs on Scotch Whisky Still in Place

An industry body is calling for the immediate suspension of tariffs as well as more support for the industry given the losses incurred due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Losses to Scotch whisky exports have reached £500 million (approx $684 million) since a 25% tariff from cheese to olives and single-malt whisky was imposed, the Scotch Whisky Association said.

The tariffs were imposed by the previous US administration in October 2019 in retaliation for EU state support given to Airbus by European governments, including the UK, amid a 17-year row over government support for Airbus and Boeing, found illegal by the WTO in both cases. Since then exports of Scotch to the US have fallen by 35%.

The association’s chief executive, Karen Betts, has described the situation as “unsustainable”. “Since tariffs were put in place, our exports to the US have fallen by 35%, amounting to over half a billion pounds in lost exports”, she said.

According to Betts, large and small producers are losing sales and shares in “what has been for decades the industry’s largest and most valuable market”.

“It’s very hard for Scotch whisky producers to understand why the UK government is so unwilling to address the UK violations of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules on aerospace subsidies at the root of the tariffs”, she said.

The trade conflict between the two aerospace giants dates back to 2004, when first the United States and then the EU accused each other of unfair support for Boeing and Airbus respectively, triggering probes by the WTO. After years of mutual complaints about unfair subsidies, the sides accused each other of refusing to negotiate and unveiled lists of billions of dollars of proposed tariffs on goods. In 2019, WTO arbitrators awarded the United States the right to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of annual EU imports.

Sourse: sputniknews.com