Irish Open cheers as Trump announces removal of 10% whiskey tariff

Doonbeg: US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will remove its 10 per cent tariff on Irish whiskey, making the declaration during the trophy presentation at the Irish Open on Sunday.

Trump said he had been urged by several people to reconsider the tariff, including Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and a number of golfers. Irish Open champion Shane Lowry was among those who raised the issue with the US president.

The announcement drew loud cheers and whistles from spectators, although it was not immediately clear when the tariff would be removed.

Addressing the crowd, Trump said, “Everybody’s been bugging me” to scrap the duty. He added that, “on behalf of the United States of America”, he was going to remove the tariffs on Irish whiskey.

Irish whiskey is currently subject to the 10 per cent tariff imposed by the Trump administration on most goods imported from the European Union. The rate was reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent in July.

The move follows Trump's decision in April to lift tariffs on certain whiskey imports from the United Kingdom, including Scotch whisky and spirits produced in Northern Ireland.

The Irish Whiskey Association had called on Washington to remove the duties in May, arguing that doing so would support US businesses selling Irish whiskey and give consumers greater certainty.

Trump had previously attributed the tariff concession for UK whisky to a visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House on April 30.

“The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump said in a social media post at the time.

The Scotch Whisky Association confirmed on July 24 that the zero-tariff arrangement for Scotch whisky had come into effect.