Taoiseach Micheál Martin will hold his first formal meeting in Washington on Thursday with an advisory group established by the Government to respond to the impacts of a potential trade war between the United States and the European Union under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Following yesterday’s meeting with Mr Trump in the Oval Office and the Shamrock ceremony, Mr Martin will begin the fourth day of his US visit with a breakfast meeting with the Strategic Economic Advisory Panel.
The members of the panel are mainly Irish and Irish-American businesspeople based in the US.
The role of the group, set up by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris, is to share insights to the Government on strategic economic opportunities for Ireland, and also on maintaining a strong relationship with the US administration.
During Mr Martin’s meetings with the president on Wednesday, Mr Trump regularly brought up the trade imbalance between the US and Ireland, saying at one stage the entire US pharmaceutical manufacturing industry was based in Ireland.
Mr Trump said that if he was president at the time those pharmaceutical companies were setting up those manufacturing plants, he would have imposed a 200 per cent tariff on the State.
The focus of the rest of the Taoiseach’s day will be primarily business and investment. Immediately after the breakfast, Mr Martin will attend and speak at a series of events hosted by Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and the US Chamber of Commerce.
The Taoiseach and Trump: listen to the key exchanges in an extraordinary White House meeting
Listen to the highlights of Taoiseach Micheal Martin's press event with US president Donald Trump in Washington DC earlier today. The two leaders jointly took questions for almost an hour. We've edited that down to 20 minutes of key exchanges and remarks.
He will also meet senior US and Irish executives. The purpose of those meetings, said a statement, is to “explore how the Ireland-US two-way trade and investment partnership can help create more jobs and growth in both countries”.
Later in the day, the Taoiseach will also present Research Ireland’s St Patrick’s Medals to Prof Richard Kearney for his academic achievements in the field of philosophy, and to Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health, New York state’s largest healthcare provider and private employer.
On Thursday evening, the Taoiseach will attend the annual Ireland Funds National Gala, which highlights the work of the organisation in fostering peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Another key meeting for Mr Martin will happen on Friday when he sits down with high-level representatives of the US Jewish community to discuss the rise of global anti-Semitism, and actions by Ireland to combat anti-Semitism, both at home and internationally.
