Bord Bia will "engage constructively' with the new Trump administration amid fears of tariffs impacting the food and drink industry.

The President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to introduce a 10% tariff on global exports to the US, in addition to a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 25% import surcharge on goods from Canada and Mexico.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Bord Bia chief executive Jim O’Toole said the Irish Food Board will see how the incoming administration's tariff plan "pans out".

"Of course the first job that we’ll have to do is engage constructively with the new US administration," he said.

Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona, Alamy

Mr O'Toole said during Trump's election campaign, the farming vote was "pro-Trump".

"We have to be careful and think about campaigning versus administration," he said.

Mr O'Toole pointed to how the food industry navigated other challenges.

"We have seen challenges in Brexit, in our closest and biggest market and we have worked with the industry to navigate through those crises and those difficulties," he said.

Challenges

The Irish food and drink industry is emerging from a "very turbulent period", Mr O'Toole said.

"We're still dealing with the backlash of Brexit, we’ve had COVID, the conflict in the world has disrupted the supply chains, we’ve had inflation, we’ve had the cost of living [crisis]," he said.

"Input prices have increased and labour costs have increased, in some cases commodity prices have risen and that has been part of the increase."

Mr O'Toole pointed out, however, that the food and drink industry has seen some growth.

"We’ve seen volume growth in a number of sectors including seafood, in prepared consumer foods, meal solutions, bakery products," he said.

"We’ve seen an impressive increase also in meat and livestock in terms of both volume and value." 

Donald Trump will become the US president on January 20th.

Feature image shows Donald Trump, Alamy