Taoiseach Micheál Martin has emphasised Ireland’s goals of protecting the food, pharma and distilling sectors in a call with the president of the European Commission.
Mr Martin spoke with Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday evening, he said in a social media post, adding that he “raised Ireland’s particular focus on the food, drinks and pharma industries”.
With US president Donald Trump expected to announce a range of tariffs targeting EU exports on Wednesday, the Government here is bracing for impact on Irish jobs and economic growth.
He said the pair agreed that the EU should be “measured and considered in any response [to US tariffs], and focused on our own competitiveness, and an ambitious trade agenda”.
Dr von der Leyen outlined her expectations for developments on tariffs this week, Mr Martin said.
An EU Council – a meeting of member states’ heads of Government – is expected in the middle of April, with Government sources here cautioning that Brussels’ response should not hurt Europe more than the US.
It comes as a Government minister warned that the Irish economy needs to “sharpen up” in the face of a looming threat of a trade war between the United States and the European Union.
Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week programme on Sunday, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said he will present a set of actions on competitiveness issues to Government leaders on Monday.
Mr Burke downplayed the prospect of an immediate flight of pharmaceutical firms, but said that he was concerned about investment decisions being taken on plans for Ireland, meaning steps had to be taken to encourage growth in other parts of the economy.
“I’ll be meeting the Government leaders on Monday evening where I’ll be going through a set of actions for our competitive action plan, because we really need to have a laser-like focus on all our competitiveness issues that really the Irish economy needs to sharpen up on.”
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“The next aspect we have to focus on are areas that are inside our control,” Mr Burke said, outlining the need “to be more nimble as an economy in order to attract investment”.
Reform was needed including on what he said were “quick wins”, pointing to new legislation on private wires and reforms to security clearance and EPA regulation, as well as a new strategy on semiconductors.
Amid fears that pharmaceutical companies could relocate their operations away from Ireland in response to Mr Trump’s protectionist agenda, he said this was not his expectation despite comments from the Pfizer chief executive that manufacturing could transfer from other jurisdictions back to the US.
Pharma companies have not told him that they intend to move their facilities back to the United States. He said putting tariffs on pharmaceutical products could be a “very significant challenge for the US administration” as medicines became more expensive for consumers.
Payments from US firms overseas arms back into the American economy could take a hit, he said, adding that it would be a “double edged sword” for the Trump administration. With the EU preparing a list of US products to hit with tariffs in April, Mr Burke said Tánaiste Simon Harris would be lobbying Brussels on behalf of Irish firms in areas like technology and distilling.
Mr Harris wrote to EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič in recent days flagging concerns about the spirits and dairy sectors being caught up in the trade war if Brussels goes ahead with tariffs on US products in these sectors. Ireland is likely to seek allows in Europe to argue against the EU including pharmaceutical goods on its list of retaliatory tariffs. Mr Harris will have calls with his Dutch, Danish and Swedish counterparts this week – all three countries have significant pharma industries.
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Officials in the Department of Trade have warned that pharmaceutical tariffs could remain in place for an extended period which would impact on supply chains – if the EU imposed tariffs, Government sources said, it risks driving up the cost base of the sector within the bloc.
“Given the oversized impact of our pharma sector to tariffs we will have to give very detailed consideration to how the EU approaches it in any retaliation,” a source said. Mr Harris is said to be considering a US trip next month to engage with political figures.
Longford-Westmeath TD Mr Burke said the Government doesn’t know “exactly the scale” of the challenge facing the State on Wednesday, pointing out that there was still uncertainty over the parameters of previous tariffs US president Donald Trump has announced over the automotive industry. He also said Mr Trump has flagged a second suite of measures aimed at specific sectors after the initial round of tariffs is announced on April 2nd.
Mr Burke said that his Cabinet colleague Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon will travel to the United States this week to engage on issues around the drinks and agriculture industries. The Government is to convene its trade forum on Friday as part of its assessment of the impact of tariffs.
