US President Donald Trump attended the Irish Open in Ireland on Sunday and announced plans to remove the United States’ 10% tariff on Irish whiskey, saying he had faced repeated calls to drop the duty from Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, golfers and others.Trump made the announcement during the trophy ceremony after Irish golfer Shane Lowry won the tournament. The surprise move drew loud whistles and cheers from spectators, although it was not immediately clear when the tariff would be lifted.“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” of Irish whiskey.Trump said Martin and several golfers had raised the issue with him, with Lowry among those who asked him to reconsider the tariff.Irish whiskey currently faces the standard tariff imposed by the Trump administration on most imports from the European Union. The rate was reduced from 15% to 10% in July.The planned move would also address an imbalance created after Trump announced in April that certain tariffs on whiskey from the United Kingdom would be lifted. The concession covers Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland, leaving Irish whiskey subject to a higher trade barrier.Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, welcomed Trump’s announcement, calling it “another positive step toward reducing barriers to spirits trade”.He said the move would benefit businesses and consumers during the upcoming holiday season.“As US hospitality businesses enter the critical holiday season, this action will provide a welcome boost for retailers, restaurants, consumers and the American economy,” Swonger said.The Irish Whiskey Association had called for the tariff to be removed in May. It said doing so would help US companies that sell Irish products and reduce uncertainty for consumers.Trump had previously linked the UK tariff concession 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 posted on social media at the time.The Scotch Whisky Association said on July 24 that the zero-tariff arrangement for Scotch had come into effect.
