The UK will today host the second transatlantic trade dialogue in Aberdeen aimed at boosting our £200billion trade partnership with the US.
Against a backdrop of Aberdeen’s flourishing tech scene and world-leading energy sector, the dialogue will focus on agreed priority areas including digital and innovation, green trade, supporting SMEs and supply chain resilience.
The British Chambers of Commerce Director General will use the meeting to urge UK and US Governments to be "laser focused" on supporting business in a speech on the future of Atlantic Trade.
Shevaun Haviland will call for an ambitious approach that prioritises sustainability, stabilises supply chains, and reduces costs for thousands of smaller businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.
In a keynote address, she will say: “As a network, [Chambers] are supportive of free and open trade, and of deeper relationships with our key international partners.
“We welcome the opportunity to participate in this dialogue, shaping clear outcomes at this critical juncture as we recover from the pandemic but face now the consequences from the War in Ukraine.
“Trade is critical to our common economic recovery on both sides of the Atlantic – done right, it makes us more prosperous, more productive, raises investment and wage levels, and opens new horizons.
“But its opportunities have to be shared by everyone -across workforces and all the communities of the UK represented in the BCC and the US – from the industrial heart of Pennsylvania to the food manufacturers in the North East of Scotland.”
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “This dialogue gives us a platform to explore more modern, digital ways of trading. It will identify and resolve barriers to trade to make it cheaper and easier for businesses in Scotland and throughout the UK to do business with our US friends.
“As two leaders in green innovation, it also gives us the opportunity to harness trade to tackle shared challenges such as climate change.”
The Trade Secretary met with leaders from Scotland’s food and drink industry, including Walker’s shortbread and Clootie McToot, on Sunday evening.
Attendees also included US spirits company Brown-Forman which owns three of Scotland’s top distilleries GlenDronach, Benriach and Glenglassaugh and employs hundreds of people in the UK. The firm hailed the lifting of tariffs on US whiskey thanks to the recent resolution of the S232 steel and aluminium tariffs dispute, and revealed it is now planning a multi-million pound investment in its Scottish facilities .