American-Scottish ties won’t stop Trump's tariff damage

Two blocks away, where tens of thousands were gathering for the first major protest against Donald Trump’s presidency, the mood was one of anger – rage, even.

But all along New York’s Sixth Avenue, where the sound of pipe bands warming up echoed in the canyons of skyscrapers, there was only joy and pride.

The route of the Tartan Day parade through midtown Manhattan was noisy, colourful and fun.

Led by Scottish actor Alan Cumming, in his second go as parade Grand Marshall, and tailed by a pack of white Scottie dogs in tartan, it was a pageant of Scottish pride.

Alan Cumming as the Grand Marshall of 2025 NYC Tartan Day Parade on April 5, 2025 in New York. Getty Images

I’ve never experienced anything like it, and everyone I spoke to who was taking part for the first time had the same reaction – we were all beaming.

Even the anti-Trump protesters who stumbled across the massed pipes and drums on their way to the demonstration made it sound like they wished they could stop and take part.

“We’d love some bagpipe music to march to,” one woman told me, laughing.

Tartan Day Parade celebrated Scotland's culture and links with the US joined by the event's grand marshal Alan Cumming, which took place on 6th Avenue on April 5, 2025, in New York. — Tartan Day Parade celebrated Scotland’s culture and links with the US joined by the event’s grand marshal Alan Cumming, which took place on 6th Avenue on April 5, 2025, in New York. Getty Images

She wasn’t alone: a couple of nights earlier, tourists and locals thronging Times Square had broken off watching breakdancers taking selfies with Disney mascots, to listen as Anna Smart from the ceilidh band the Rollin Drones struck up her bagpipes.

Perhaps because a kind of modesty is part of Scottish identity, displays of pride like this are limited to the Tartan Army and rugby matches – and even then, it’s more an anxious, hopeful, ready-to-be-disappointed feeling.

Irish pride makes St Patrick’s Day a global phenomenon.

For a few hours along Sixth Avenue last week, Scotland got to show its colours – until next year’s parade, that is.

Much of that pride was expressed in an American accent. I met people from up and down the East Coast of the United States who had come from as far away as Florida to profess their family links to Scotland. Along the way, I heard some interesting pronunciations of places like Edinburgh, Ayrshire, and Falkirk.

There are 25 million Americans who have some Scottish heritage. As Camilla Hellman, the president of the American Scottish Foundation and the chief organiser of Tartan Week, told me, Scotland’s ties to America run deeper than most.

First Minister John Swinney at the Tartan Parade in New York. Scottish Government

“The Scots were here from the very beginning,” she said, as European pioneers on the continent – whereas the Irish and Italians, who have such a strong diaspora identity in the United States, came in later waves of immigration.

As with Tartan Week every year, Scotland’s politicians were out in force; John Swinney, Anas Sarwar, and Ian Murray all paraded down Sixth Avenue, as did a delegation of MSPs.

The hope had been to boost Brand Scotland and help secure business opportunities for Scottish companies. Murray had begun his week in Washington, joining a reception at the British Embassy to network and charm American lawmakers. He brought performers from the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, to pipe and dance in front of the US Congress

But by the time Murray’s plane had landed, it was clear friendship and cooperation weren’t on the agenda in the White House.

Donald Trump’s tariff announcement threw a decades-old global economic system into turmoil. It may never recover.

Scottish businesses in the US for Tartan Week were reluctant to speak on the record about tariffs. The ones that did, were keen to highlight the opportunities rather than the risks – with the UK facing 10% tariffs and the EU on 20%, some Scottish products like seafood will enjoy a new advantage against their competitors.

But a falling tide strands all boats. Higher prices don’t usually lead to bigger sales, and as Covid showed, blocked international supply chains don’t help either.

The market crash that has followed the announcement has raised fears of a recession, and at the very least, the tariffs will knock a chunk off the UK’s already feeble economic growth.

Major Scottish arts organisations in New York told me they fear that businesses tightening their belts will cut back on sponsorship and donations.

The cross-party message from Swinney, Sarwar, Murray and company was a unified, “keep calm and carry on”.

But the truth is, none of the Scottish-American warmth on display will spare Scotland from the economic damage to come.

Even Israel, America’s closest ally, which gets most of its lethal weaponry from the US, and which has Washington’s full support for its renewed war in Gaza, is facing tariffs.

We can enjoy the atmosphere of Tartan Day, but in Donald Trump’s world, it doesn’t matter how far back the blood ties go. America doesn’t have friends, only opportunities.