Trump drops tariff on Irish whiskey while booze ban looms for Canada

U.S. President Donald Trump was met by loud cheers as he announced tariffs on Irish whiskey would soon be removed.

The announcement was made during the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open on Sunday.

“Everybody’s been bugging me,” Trump said. “And I said, ‘On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off.'”

The president was drowned out by the crowd’s cheers before he finished his sentence.

But Trump’s proposed decision to lift tariffs comes even as they remain in place on several countries, including the 50 per cent imposed on numerous Canadian goods as Canada and the U.S. trade war rages on.

Those tariffs took effect last month after attempts at reaching a deal fell apart.

At the time, Prime Minister Mark Carney cited three issues that torpedoed the negotiations : disagreements over extending the trade deal to include medium or heavy vehicles like trucks, the U.S. purportedly wanting to put limits on trade deals Canada could seek, and issues surrounding French language rules.

Carney announced counter-tariffs would also be put on billions of dollars worth of U.S. exports, which took effect this past week.

In response to those counter-tariffs, Trump announced the U.S. would ban certain Canadian imports, including most alcohol, some dairy products, and motorcycles. Those bans are set to take effect Sept. 29.

On Saturday, Trump also claimed Canada wants to reach a deal with the U.S. “very badly,” and suggested an agreement could come “fairly soon” if the Canadian government addressed his concerns about agricultural trade.

The tariffs on Irish whiskey were imposed months ago as part of Trump’s broader tariff regime on European Union imports, which was reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent in July.

The decrease was announced following a meeting with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, where he said he’d be lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whisky, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland.

Trump did not specify how soon the tariffs would be lifted, nor were additional details provided.