Irish goods exports fell by 5 per cent in July amid a slump in transatlantic trade ushered in by US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
On Monday, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the value of goods exports from the Republic to the US, its largest export market, dipped to €4.4 billion in July, down 17.2 per cent from the same month last year.
However, over the first seven months of the year overall, the value of exports to the US has more than doubled to €80.4 billion compared with the same stretch in 2024.
This largely reflects a surge in exports of pharmaceuticals to the US in the first quarter of the year as companies stockpiled product in the US in advance of the unveiling of Mr Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs.
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The latest trade figures suggest an ongoing levelling off in that surge. Pharmaceutical and related product exports, which represented more than 40 per cent of the Republic’s total trade in the month, fell by 1.5 per cent to €7 billion in July compared with the same month last year.
Commenting on the CSO release, Janette Maxwell, international indirect tax partner at Grant Thornton Ireland, said the data highlights an “ongoing fluctuation in global trade”.
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She said: “A variety of factors are likely to be at play, such as stockpiling earlier in the year in anticipation of potential tariffs, as well as currency and cost pressures.
“A stronger euro and increased production costs may have also reduced competitiveness in the US market.”
Among the “key drivers” of the overall decline in exports, Ms Maxwell said organic chemicals exports – “a big component of US-bound trade” – fell by €1.1 billion from July 2024 to July 2025, a decline of 47.5 per cent.
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Carol Lynch, head of customs and international trade services at BDO, said the decline in US-bound exports was “to be expected” as stockpiling decreased when tariffs began to kick in.
“July exports reflect the pause period between the introduction of tariffs at a 10 per cent universal rate in April across most sectors, excluding pharmaceutical and semiconductors,” Ms Lynch added.
“At this point, it was unclear what the outcome of EU-US Trade negotiations would be.”
However, this situation changed at the end of July when the trading partners reached a “handshake agreement, promising a 15 per cent maximum reciprocal rate”.
Consequently, Ms Lynch said there was “less uncertainty” for exporters at the end of July with a “sense of calm starting to seep in”.
Late last month, the US confirmed it would cap tariffs on imports of EU pharmaceuticals at 15 per cent, a relief for the Irish Government and the Republic’s multinational-dominated pharmaceutical sector.
