U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he plans to remove the 10% tariff on Irish whiskey. The announcement came during the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open in Doonbeg, Ireland, but details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.
Irish whiskey currently faces the standard tariff imposed by Trump on most imports from the European Union. That rate was reduced from 15% to 10% in July.
Trump said he had been asked about the issue by many people, including some of the golfers at the tournament. His announcement at the conclusion of the event was greeted with loud whistling and cheers from spectators.
“Everybody’s been bugging me” to do it, Trump said. “And I said, ‘On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off’” Irish whiskey.
The Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariffs to be removed in May. The industry group argued that eliminating them would help many U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and avoid uncertainty for consumers.
Trump announced in May that he was lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whiskey, including Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland. He said on April 30 that he had given the United Kingdom a tariff break on whiskey after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House. The Scotch Whisky Association said on July 24 that the zero-tariff policy had taken effect.