Trump scraps tariffs on scotch whiskey

Well, next to the announcement by the U.S. President Donald Trump that he will remove tariffs

on Scotch whiskey following a visit from Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla.

It's still unclear what this will mean for distillers here, joining us as his own

Ocohoyne director of the Irish Whiskey Association. Oh, and thanks for being with us this afternoon.

What's your understanding of the situation today?

Well, we're still trying to understand exactly what will happen with the announcement that was made

on Truth Social yesterday by President Trump. As you mentioned there, he has noted or he has

said that he will lift the tariff on Scotch whiskey, USTR, the trade representative published

a statement this morning to say that they are working under the economic partnership agreement.

This was what was agreed with UK Prime Minister Kierist Armer and the U.S.

Administration to provide preferential treatment to whiskey produced in the United Kingdom.

Our understanding and it's important to recognize that the Irish Whiskey Association, of course,

is an all island, but it means that that will in turn lead to tariff liberalization for

Irish whiskey produced in northern Ireland. But it's all very unclear as to when exactly that

will take place. The fact that it's been kind of paired with the negotiations ongoing on that

economic partnership agreement mean that we don't know exactly when this liberalization is to take

place. Will that though mean that there's a disparity between producers in the North and

producers in the South? Ultimately, if it is to come in, as USTR have mentioned, we could be

faced with that reality. That's an unfortunate reality. It's one that we want to avoid, that we've

been seeking to avoid since all this uncertainty around tariffs in reality started with Trump's

announcement on April 2nd, last year, Liberation Day, as he called it. Those famous billboards

said in front of the White House. Yes, they're imprinted on my mind. We've been trying to grapple

with this. It's important to recognize that for years from 1997, up until last year,

whiskey did not have a tariff in the US and that brought huge success, not only for distillers

on this island, but also for US companies, many of whom have an Irish whiskey in their portfolio.

The consistent diagram into the we've been trying to make is that the zero for zero is beneficial

for all and in reality should a tariff persist on Irish whiskey in the Republic of Ireland or

indeed an Irish whiskey in the north of Ireland. That is, this is actually damaging the US consumer

and US businesses. So what we're hoping for is a zero for zero, a return to zero for zero.

Is that realistic though? Well, look, I mean, the framework has been laid out now by Trump's

announcement. It was interesting, I thought, that he noted the strong trade that the state of Kentucky

has with Scotland. We have the exact same trade. 120 million worth of casks are imported into

Ireland every year from Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in the southwest of the US. He

noted as well the strong business links between Scotland and Kentucky and the US. Those links

are just as strong for us. So I think what's what we are hoping to see now is that this framework

has followed. We've been in touch with the both the Irish Government and the European Commission.

We understand that the zero for zero for spirits producers for Irish whiskey for Irish

cream for all those wonderful products that we have in Europe. That remains a priority for them.

And as I say, perhaps the gate has been opened and perhaps then we can try and see if we can

get through. Yeah, any indication as to when you'll know for sure? No, I'm afraid not. Look,

Donald Trump has spoken but we're unclear as to what exactly it means. We have been in touch,

as I say, with USTR, with our colleagues in the SWA, the Scotch Whiskey Association. They were

over at a bilateral meeting with the Irish Whiskey Association this week. They had a

sum of an indication that it might be discussed. I think they were pleasantly surprised by the

announcement yesterday, but they also too know that they don't know exactly when this change is to

take place. So therefore we're all adopting a wait and see approach. But we're hoping now, as I say,

that this is the first step in a return to a positive trading relationship. Oh no, Colin.

Thanks indeed for joining us on the program this afternoon.