Well, that was easy.
President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would remove tariffs on Irish whiskey after golfer Shane Lowry and the Irish prime minister did the unthinkable: They asked him.
“Everybody’s been bugging me,” the president said during remarks at the Irish Open. “They’re saying, can you do me a favor? It’s so unfair what’s going on.”
The crowd cheered wildly after the president said he would lift the tariff, which sits at 10%.
Ireland’s national public broadcaster said last year that about 45% to 50% of Irish whiskey is exported to the United States, making the US its biggest export market.
In May, the Irish whiskey association said the tariffs on whiskey should be removed.
“Reducing the tariff for Irish drinks would benefit the many US companies who have Irish premium products in their portfolio,” the association said in a press release. “It would avoid uncertainty for the US consumer and strengthen the cask trade in Kentucky, Tennessee and other US states.”
Trump placed the 10% tariff in February as part of his temporary global tariff on most imports. Popular Irish whiskey brands include Jameson, Bushmills, Tullamore D.E.W., and Redbreast.
Trump’s tariff policies in his second term have upended markets, thrown business for a loop, and strained relations with long-standing allies, most recently Canada. They’ve also landed his administration in legal trouble.
Trump has said the tariffs are meant to rebalance what he calls unfair trade relations, jump-start American industry, and give the US leverage in international negotiations, like border security and drug trafficking.
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