By Darlene Superville and Jill Lawless
DOONBEG, Ireland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday at the close of a golf tournament in Ireland that he plans to remove a 10% tariff on Irish whiskey.
Trump said during the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open that he had been asked about the issue by everyone, including Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and even some of the golfers. Irish Open winner Shane Lowry was among them, Trump said.
“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’” of Irish whiskey.
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Irish whiskey currently faces the standard tariff imposed by Trump on most imports from the European Union, which was reduced from 15% to 10% in July.
Trump announced in April that he was lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whiskey, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland, creating an imbalance with Ireland.
Trump’s surprise announcement was met with loud whistling and cheers from the crowd of spectators. Details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.
Chris Swonger, president & CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called Trump’s announcement “another positive step toward reducing barriers to spirits trade” and said everyone would benefit from it during the coming holidays.
“As U.S. hospitality businesses enter the critical holiday season, this action will provide a welcome boost for retailers, restaurants, consumers and the American economy,” Swonger said.
In May, the Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariffs to be removed, arguing that such a step would help many U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and avoid uncertainty for consumers.
Trump said on April 30 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.
The Scotch Whisky Association said July 24 that the zero-tariff policy had come into effect.
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