CLONAKILTY Distillery has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s pledge to scrap the 10% tariff on Irish whiskey.
Mr Trump made the unexpected announcement in Doonbeg last weekend at the Irish Open.
The distillery’s founder Michael Scully said it’s good news for a company like his, which has seen its sales grow by 31% in the US market over the past 12 months.
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“America is an important market for us,” he said. “We’ve been investing in it for the last eight years and we’ll continue to do that. We see the tariffs as a temporary blip on a long-term plan and the removal of them takes a sting out of it.”
He highlighted the strange anomaly that the tariffs were dropped for whiskey producers in Northern Ireland earlier this year.
“Our increased sales in the US market is definitely going against the trend and people are starting to recognise the quality of our whiskey so the removal of the tariffs can only benefit the company.”
Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins TD said the decision to remove US tariffs on Irish whiskey is a major boost for one of Ireland’s most successful indigenous industries.
“The United States is an enormously important market for Irish whiskey and removing these tariffs will give our producers greater certainty and a much better opportunity to compete,” he said.
He added that Cork has a fantastic whiskey industry with a proud tradition of production and some outstanding businesses producing a world-class product.
