Irish Whiskey dodges tariffs while Scotch Malt Whisky takes a hit

The list of the Trump’s administration’s punitive tariffs in EU goods was announced last night, after a WTO ruling, allowing the US to impose tariffs on $7.5bn of EU goods.

As a blow against many EU food and beverage exporters, the US last night announced a list that saw Irish Whiskey dodge the proverbial bullet as they were not included in the 25% tariff duties.

Industries that will be affected by these punitive tariffs, once they come into affect, on October 18th, include pork, cheese, butter, and cream liqueur. Cream Liqueur is a significant alcoholic beverage export for Ireland which will now be dealt a massive blow in its most populous market, the United States.

While Irish Whiskey in the Republic of Ireland  was spared, our counterparts in the UK were not so lucky. UK based whisky manufacturers of Single Malt Scotch or Irish whiskey will wake up this morning to the full 25% duties levied on their goods.

This unfortunately means that any Single Malt Irish Whiskey manufacturer in the UK controlled, Northern Ireland, will be subject to penalties when entering the United States, while their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland will not.

Unfortunately, this ruling still has scope to change and Irish Whiskey is not without its risk of future tariffs. There will be a review of the imposed tariffs in 120 days and there is still a real risk that the Trump administration may retrospectively include Irish Whiskey produced in the Republic to their tariff lists.