Ireland will not be responding to US President Donald Trump's tariffs with restrictions of our own, according to the Minister for Enterprise.
Trump recently announced a new 25% tariff on aluminium and steel, which the EU Commission has labelled "unlawful" and promised to react soon.
While steel is not huge in terms of Irish trade terms, around €60 million worth is still exported to the US every year.
It is also expected that more tariffs or regulations could still be announced by President Trump which would further impact the Irish economy.
FN4PP5 Saint Louis, MO, USA ? March 11, 2016: Donald Trump shows the thumbs-up to supporters at the Peabody Opera House in Saint Louis.Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke joined Newstalk Breakfast to explain how Ireland is preparing for the threat of tariffs from the US.
“First of all, our budget for 2025 was really prepared along the lines of the risk to de-globalisation and that’s what we’re seeing right across the globe, led by the US and China,” he said.
“There’s so many trade tensions that are really, you know, very ever-permanent almost on the landscape.
“So, what we’re doing, obviously, is critically we’ll be part of a European response to any decisions that are made because trade is of an EU competence.
“That means the EU 27 members take decisions together and the Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovic, will be given essentially instructions or a blessing to respond.”
'Most integreated trade relationship on the planet'
Minister Burke said that our strategy would be to de-escalate tensions with the US, rather than respond with tariffs of our own.
“We have established under the Biden administration – which is still there - the Trade and Technology Council,” he said.
“What that does is it tried to really put forward a narrative, which gets lost in a lot of this, that this is the most integrated two-way trade relationship on the planet.
“We really need to work and ensure that there are no barriers put up; so our first port of call is really to negotiate.”
According to Minister Burke, “the full relationship” must be captured when talking about trade between the two countries.
“There’s a very significant surplus in favour of the US administration of over a hundred billion dollars,” he said.
“That’s what we really want, to try and push out the narrative – the correct narrative that Irish companies, the Irish economy, is paying the US economy very significant payments in terms of royalties for US innovation.
“And [in] a European context, we’re responsible for two thirds of all foreign direct investment in the US economy."
Minister Burke said it must be kept in mind that tariffs would further reduce supply and raise inflation on both sides.
Main image: President Donald Trump signs an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
