Trump vows to scrap Irish whiskey tariffs at golf tournament in Ireland

US President Donald Trump, on a visit to Ireland, announced Sunday (local time) that he would lift tariffs on Irish whiskey.

Trump made the announcement while speaking at the trophy ceremony of the Irish Open golf tournament held at his Doonbeg golf resort. "There's one thing I want to mention," he said. "I spoke to the prime minister about it, I spoke to Shane" — referring to tournament winner Shane Lowry — "and everybody has been bugging me about this one thing." He said everyone he mentioned had asked him to scrap the tariffs on Irish whiskey. "On behalf of the United States, I'm going to remove the tariffs on Irish whiskey," Trump said.

According to the Associated Press, Irish whiskey has been subject to the 15 percent tariff the Trump administration imposed on EU imports. The Irish Whiskey Association had urged the administration to eliminate the tariff in May.

The crowd responded to Trump's surprise announcement with whistles and cheers. The AP noted that Trump gave no specific timeline for when the tariffs would be lifted.

Earlier, Trump had announced via social media in late April — shortly after British King Charles III's state visit to the United States concluded — that he would eliminate tariffs on Scotch whisky, a major product of Scotland. According to the AP, the Scotch Whisky Association announced July 24 that the tariff-free policy had been formally declared, meaning it took roughly three months from Trump's remarks for the measure to actually take effect.