US tariffs will have a “very grave impact” on Ireland’s economy, the Taoiseach has warned.
Last week, Donald Trump announced a 25% on all cars imported into the United States from April 2nd.
He has also signalled that tariffs on pharmaceutical imports are likely, singling out Ireland for its ability to attract US companies.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said planned to “continue our dialogue with the US” and that the Government’s “overriding objective” is to protect employment in Ireland.
“We have to work within the European Union and with [other] member states and with the Commission,” he said.
“It looks like we’re going to have uniformly applied tariffs in quite a number of sectors; we’ve already had steel and aluminium, derivative products, cars, semiconductors perhaps.
“These are well-signaled by the US side.”
U.S President Donald Trump. Picture by: Daniel Torok/White House Photo/Alamy Live News. 13th Mar, 2025.As well as continuing to lobby against tariffs, Mr Martin added that the Irish Government would work to “make the European Union more competitive” as well.
“We need to expand the single market, we need to develop a savings and investment union… to allow more capital to be invested in Europe,” he said.
“And Europe is now pressing ahead with that; but Ireland and Luxembourg, Germany and France are key countries with strong financial services.
“So, there have been barriers to that in the past because everyone is protecting their own domains.
“But to make Europe more competitive, we’re going to have to do that.”
Future of trade
In January this year, Ireland exported €12 billion worth of goods to the United States - most of which were pharmaceutical products.
Mr Martin described trade as the economy’s “flesh and blood” but warned the country must diversify away from the United States.
“We will ratify the Canadian-European trade deal, which [is] operational but the Dáil hasn’t been able to ratify that in the last couple of years,” he said.
“We’re going to have to do that.”
I had an excellent call with President @vonderLeyen about the road ahead for Canada-E.U. trade.
Canada and Europe are strong, reliable partners. In a shifting global economy, that matters more than ever. We’re ready to secure new transatlantic business opportunities together.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) March 16, 2025
However, in the short-term, Mr Martin warned that “the entire world will suffer” from economic protectionism and said this could “very well” impact Ireland’s budget.
“It’s a very, very grave threat,” he said.
“It’s a very serious threat because most people who invest in businesses and so on want stability.
“They want predictability - and they don’t have that at the moment with the level of uncertainty that’s going on.
“So, therefore people are suspending investment decisions.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the EU would "continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests".
Main image: Donald Trump and Micheál Martin. Image: Newstalk.
