US will scrap Irish whisky tariff, Trump says

What the report says

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration will remove the tariff on Irish whisky, speaking while he was in Ireland at a golf tournament held at his course in Doonbeg, County Clare. According to Al Jazeera, Trump made the remark during a trophy ceremony and said he was acting on behalf of the United States. The report says the duty currently sits at 10 percent and is part of broader tariffs applied to European Union wine and spirit exports.

The move comes after months of lobbying from Irish whisky producers, who have faced the tariff regime for more than a year. Al Jazeera reported that the administration had already lowered the levy from an original 15 percent to 10 percent in July. It also noted that Trump previously eliminated tariffs on spirits from the United Kingdom in late April, following a state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

The Irish Whiskey Association welcomed the latest announcement and said it would keep working with US and EU counterparts to restore a zero-for-zero arrangement for drinks trade. The group said the decision matters for businesses, consumers and companies that sell Irish-branded spirits in the United States. Al Jazeera said the timing for the tariff change was not immediately clear.