Irish goods exports to the US fell by 62 per cent in April after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on all European Union (EU) imports.
The latest trade figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show export volumes to the US dropped by €16 billion in one month after Mr Trump’s so-called “liberation day” tariffs announcement.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products globally fell by 54 per cent or €12.8 billion in April compared with the previous month.
US tariffs have thrown global trading patterns into turmoil. The value of Irish goods exports for the first three months of the year rose by 44 per cent as multinationals here stockpiled product in the US ahead of the imposition of tariffs.
The figures for April show the value of goods exports globally fell by 43 per cent to €21.9 billion in April compared with the record €38.1 billion recorded in March.
However, when compared with April 2024, goods exports were still up by €2.5 billion.
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In the first four months of 2025, exports of medical and pharmaceutical products represented 60.2 per cent (€66.9 billion) of total Irish exports.
This represented a 117 per cent increase on figures from 2024.
Mr Trump has threatened to impose 50 per cent tariffs on most goods imports coming from the EU but has put a stay on the measure until July 9th to allow for talks.
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So far pharma, which accounts for the lion’s share of Irish exports to the US, has avoided tariffs.
In April, Ireland’s top exporting partners were the US, the Netherlands and Britain, with Ireland exporting 44.5 per cent (€9.7 billion), 9.5 per cent (€2.1 billion) and 6.2 per cent (€1.35 billion) of total export goods respectively to these countries.
Ireland imported the highest value of goods from Germany, Britain and the US, with these countries representing 15 per cent (€1.6 billion), 12.4 per cent (€1.3 billion) and 11.3 per cent (€1.2 billion) of the total import trade for the month.
Carol Lynch, head of customs and international trade services at accounting firm BDO, said the sharp fall-off in exports in April was to be expected.
“This is largely attributable to a reduction in exports to the US as stockpiling decreased after the imposition of the Liberation Day universal tariffs on April 5th,” she said.
