Boris Johnson urged to tell Trump: Don't hike Scotch whiskey tariffs

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to ask US President Donald Trump to stop imposing 25% tariffs on Scotch Whiskey. A former Scottish secretary reportedly said in the House of Commons that the UK PM must use his friendly ties with Trump in order to save the jobs of thousands of Scotland workers associated with the production of single malt whiskey. The United States a week ago stated that scotch is among the European items that will have to face a heavy import duty from October 18. The announcement by the US was a hit against the European Union over the old trade dispute on subsidies for the Airbus. 

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3000 workers are in danger

Scotland Secretary David Mundell said to the MPs in the UK that over three thousand workers in the industry are in danger of losing their employment. He said that last year when he welcomed US President Trump to Scotland, he said he loved the country. Mundell wants the UK PM to settle the matter on a personal level. Along with the Scotch whiskey, the other products that have been targetted are French wine, Italian and Dutch cheese and also the Spanish ham. Washington got a green signal from the World Trade Organization to impose a heavy duty on the EU goods on up to £6.1bn.

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Trade minister calls it bad tariffs

The international trade minister of UK Coron Burns too asked PM Johnson to talk to Trump personally on the issue. He said he is quite sure that if Johnson is able to convey the message to Trump of the harm that the heavy duties will cause to several people in Scotland, mainly the rural areas. He urged the government to look into the matter urgently. A lot of Scotland MPs challenged the trade minister about what actions will the government take to get rid of the tariffs. Burns assured that he will call Washington himself on October 8 to talk about the matter. At a point, he also asked the MPs to get in contact with the US envoy on their own. He called the tariffs imposed on such goods a really bad one. 

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(With inputs from agencies)