U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he intends to remove a 15% tariff on Irish whiskey, a move that was met with cheers from the crowd at the Irish Open golf tournament in Doonbeg, Ireland.
"Everybody’s been bugging me" to lift the tariffs, Trump said during the trophy ceremony. "And I said, ‘On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off’” Irish whiskey.
The 15% tariff on Irish whiskey was part of broader tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on imports from the European Union. In May, Trump announced a similar measure to lift certain tariffs on UK whiskey, including Scotch and spirits from Northern Ireland. The Scotch Whisky Association confirmed that a zero-tariff policy for these products had taken effect by July 24.
The Irish Whiskey Association had previously called for the removal of these tariffs, stating in May that it would benefit U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and reduce uncertainty for consumers.
Details regarding the timeline for the removal of the Irish whiskey tariff were not immediately available.
Trump noted that he had previously granted a tariff break on whiskey to the United Kingdom after a visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House in late April. "The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!" Trump posted on social media at the time.