Trade
Donald Trump has announced that US tariffs on Irish whiskey will be scrapped, following months of pressure from the Irish government and drinks industry.
The US president made the announcement during the trophy presentation at the Irish Open, held at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, County Clare.
“I am going to take the tariffs off,” Trump told the crowd, adding that Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, tournament winner Shane Lowry and apparently everybody else within bothering distance had raised the issue with him.
There is not yet a confirmed date for the tariff to be removed, but the announcement could bring some much-needed certainty to an Irish whiskey industry for which the US remains comfortably its most important export market.
It’s great news for Irish whiskey
Irish whiskey’s biggest market
Irish whiskey produced in the Republic of Ireland currently faces a 10% tariff when imported into the US, in line with the rate applied to most goods arriving from the European Union.
The tariff had initially been set at 15% under the latest EU and US trade arrangements before being reduced to 10%. However you cut it, adding another tenth to the cost of entering your biggest market is not ideal.
Around one in every three bottles of Irish whiskey is sold in the US. The market is worth approximately €450 million annually to Irish whiskey exporters, with close to 5.5 million cases sold there in 2024, according to the Irish Whiskey Association.
The tariff also created an unusual divide within the category.
Irish whiskey is protected by a single geographical indication covering the entire island of Ireland. However, once the US agreed to remove tariffs from whisky and whiskey produced in the United Kingdom, bottles made in Northern Ireland stood to receive different treatment from those produced in the Republic.
The result was that the same protected whiskey category could face two different US tariff rates depending on which side of the Irish border it was distilled.
An interconnected whiskey trade
The Irish Whiskey Association has spent months arguing for a return to tariff-free trade. It maintains that Irish and American whiskey producers are partners rather than straightforward competitors.
Ireland is the EU’s largest importer of American oak casks, with much of its whiskey matured in bourbon barrels sourced from Kentucky, Tennessee and other US states. A healthy Irish whiskey industry therefore creates business for American distillers, cooperages, distributors and retailers.
“Transatlantic spirits was once a textbook case of mutually beneficial free trade,” the association said when calling for the tariff to be removed earlier this year.
That tariff-free arrangement had been in place since 1997 and helped both European and American spirits develop their respective export markets. Disruption threatens higher prices, weaker margins and less confidence for producers deciding where to invest.
Trump’s announcement was welcomed by both the Irish Whiskey Association and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. The latter said removing the tariff would support American hospitality businesses and workers ahead of the important Christmas trading period.
It really is good news for Irish whiskey. We remember what good news is, right?
When will the tariff be removed?
At the time of writing, the United States Trade Representative had not confirmed precisely when Irish whiskey imports would return to a zero tariff.
The decision follows the removal of US tariffs on Scotch whisky and other whiskies produced in the UK. That exemption was announced after a state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla, with Trump crediting the royal couple for helping to secure the change.
This time, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Shane Lowry appear to have provided the final push. Trade policy shaped by kings, golfers and whoever manages to get the president’s attention at a trophy presentation may not be entirely conventional, but Irish whiskey producers are unlikely to complain about the result.
Provided the announcement becomes policy, whiskey made across the island of Ireland will once again enter the US on equal terms. More importantly, one of the world’s most successful spirits categories will lose a significant obstacle in the market it depends upon most.
For now, the tariff remains in place. But Irish whiskey has received the answer it wanted.
