Trump plans to lift 15% tariff on Irish whiskey at Doonbeg ceremony
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to remove a 15% tariff on Irish whiskey. The announcement came during the trophy ceremony at the Irish Open in Doonbeg, Ireland.
Trump said golfers and others had asked him about the issue. “Everybody’s been bugging me” to do it, 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.'”
Irish whiskey currently faces the 15% tariff imposed by Trump on imports from the European Union. Trump announced in May that he was lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whiskey, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland.
The announcement at the conclusion of the tournament was met with loud cheers.
In May, the Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariffs to be removed, arguing that the step would help many U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and avoid uncertainty for consumers.
Details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.
Trump said in May that he gave 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!” Trump posted on social media.
