Trump says US will remove 15% tariff on Irish whiskey after Irish Open

Donald Trump announced at the Irish Open that the US would remove its 15 per cent tariff on Irish whiskey. The move signals relief for producers and importers, though its start date remains unclear.

In Short

• Trump made the announcement during the Irish Open trophy ceremony in Ireland
• Spectators responded with cheers and whistles after the unexpected tariff pledge
• Irish whiskey currently faces a 15 per cent duty on EU imports

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he plans to remove a 15 per cent tariff on Irish whiskey, making the announcement at the close of the Irish Open in Ireland. The duty is part of the tariff imposed by Trump on imports from the European Union.

Trump made the statement during the trophy ceremony and said many people, including some golfers, had raised the issue with him. "Everybody's been bugging me," the Republican president said. "And I said, On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off' Irish whiskey." His surprise announcement was met with loud whistling and cheers from spectators.

Irish whiskey is currently covered by the 15 per cent tariff on EU imports. In May, Trump announced that he was lifting certain tariffs on UK whiskey, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland.

Also in May, the Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariff on Irish whiskey to be removed. It said such a move would help many US companies with Irish products in their portfolios and would avoid uncertainty for consumers. Details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.

On April 30, Trump said he had given the United Kingdom a tariff break on whiskey after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House. "The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!" he posted on social media. On July 24, the Scotch Whisky Association said the zero-tariff policy had come into effect.

Trump's announcement on Sunday marked an intended removal of the tariff on Irish whiskey, although there was no immediate clarity on when it would take effect, following the earlier tariff relief for UK whiskey.

With PTI Inputs

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