Sunday was a great day for Shane Lowry, for golf, for Offaly and it now looks like it might have brought good news for Irish whiskey distillers and therefore tillage farmers.

At the prize-giving ceremony of the Irish Open at Doonbeg, the president of the United States Donald Trump announced he was taking the tariffs off Irish whiskey sold into the US.

The US President said: “I want to mention one thing. Taoiseach and I talked about it and Shane [Lowry] talked about it and everybody has been bugging me. They’re saying would you do me a favour? It’s so unfair what’s going on could you possibly take the tariffs off of Irish whiskey?

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“And I said on behalf of the United States of America I am going to take the tariffs off Irish whiskey,” he said as a cheering crowd interrupted his speech.

It is understood Taoiseach Micheál Martin brought up the subject in his meeting with the US president on Saturday, 12 September.

Current tariffs

Irish whiskey is currently subject to a 10% tariff in the US. The US has always been a key export market for Irish whiskey. In 2024, Ireland exported Irish whiskey worth about €450m to the US. It accounted for approximately 40% of Irish whiskey exports.

Malting barley markets have been in a bad place recently as demand for alcoholic drinks declines and the threat of tariffs caused concern in the markets last year. The news that those tariffs are to be removed should be a positive thing for Irish whiskey sales and therefore Irish malting barley growers.