Trump drops Irish tariff after prime minister tells him "it's so unfair"

Doonbeg, Ireland - President Donald Trump said Sunday that tariffs on Irish whiskey would be lifted after the Irish prime minister said they were "unfair".

President Donald Trump agreed to remove tariffs on Irish whiskey after a meeting with the prime minister. He is currently on a two-day visit to Ireland, where he attended the Irish Open at his golf course.   © PAUL FAITH / AFP

Without giving details on when the decision would take effect, Trump said at the end of a visit to Ireland that it followed a conversation with Prime Minister Micheál Martin and Shane Lowry, who had just won the Irish Open golf tournament.

"Taoiseach (the prime minister) and I talked about it, and Shane talked about it, and everybody's been bugging me ... would you do me a favor? It's so unfair what's going on," Trump said of the conversations.

"Could you possibly take the tariffs off of Irish whiskey? And I said, on behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off."

Trump turns to golf and the family business on second day of Ireland visit
Donald Trump Trump turns to golf and the family business on second day of Ireland visit

Ireland is part of the European Union, which struck an accord with Trump's administration last year, fixing a limit of 15% on EU products entering the US market.

Its key exports to the US had declined because of the tariffs.

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Trump stirred controversy earlier in his visit as he waded into a politically sensitive subject, saying after a meeting with Martin that he would "love to see" a united Ireland.