Donald Trump announces removal of US tariffs on Irish whiskey

President Donald Trump told a crowd at his Doonbeg golf resort in Ireland that the US would be removing tariffs on Irish whiskey, capping a lobbying effort by Irish officials and the country’s distilling industry that had been building for months.

The announcement came on September 13 during the Amgen Irish Open.

What the tariffs looked like

The US had been imposing a 10% tariff on whiskey imported from the Republic of Ireland, with some reports pegging the effective rate closer to 15%. For context, Irish whiskey exports to the US were valued at roughly €450 million last year, making America the single most important market for Irish distillers by a wide margin.

The tariff hit an industry that had been on a tear. Irish distillers have poured an estimated €80 million into US whiskey casks as part of their operations, underscoring just how deeply intertwined the Irish whiskey business is with American consumers.

Scotch whisky and whiskey from Northern Ireland had already received tariff relief earlier in 2026. That came after the UK made concessions to the Trump administration, with the deal reportedly finalized around April or May following a royal visit to the White House. The Republic of Ireland, as an EU member state, couldn’t ride that same wave and had to chart its own path to relief.

The diplomatic runway

Trump’s announcement didn’t materialize out of nowhere. It came during a two-day presidential visit to Ireland that included meetings with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Martin had been publicly pressing the case for tariff relief, and the Irish Whiskey Association had been lobbying US officials directly. The industry group has consistently framed Irish whiskey as a cornerstone of the bilateral trade relationship, a point that carries weight given the deep cultural and economic ties between the two countries.

Even golfer Shane Lowry reportedly made appeals on behalf of the industry.

Trump purchased the Doonbeg golf resort over a decade ago.

Why this matters beyond whiskey

The tariff removal, if and when it’s formally enacted, would be significant for Ireland’s export economy. The US is the largest market for Irish whiskey globally, and the €450 million in annual exports represents a meaningful chunk of Ireland’s food and beverage trade with America.

It’s worth noting that the formal details, including the exact timeline and whether the removal applies to all Irish spirits or specifically whiskey, haven’t been confirmed by US trade officials.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.