Tánaiste Simon Harris is heading to Luxembourg to meet fellow EU trade ministers to discuss the fall-out from across-the-board tariffs of 20 percent being imposed on the European Union by the United States.
The emergency meeting in Luxembourg will be a chance for member states to hold an “exchange of views”, a senior EU diplomat said.
“I will represent the Irish Government at a special meeting of Trade Ministers in Luxembourg, at which the EU will consider how to respond”, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris TD, said ahead of the meeting.
“While there is no doubt we are now entering into a period of significant economic turbulence, I want to assure people that we will get through this and we will approach the period ahead in a calm and measured way.”
The European Commission expect pharmaceuticals to be next on Donald Trump’s hit list despite the Taoiseach’s hopes that the sector will dodge US tariffs.
On Friday, Simon Harris set out plans to diversify the Irish economy away from the United States.
That will not be easy. Nearly half of Ireland’s trade outside the EU is currently bound up with the US.
“This is not about decoupling from the US who will remain a key trading partner”, the Tánaiste said.
“But as a global outward looking country we must always be looking for new opportunities.”
“Tariffs are deeply regrettable in every single way – they hurt businesses, they damage consumer confidence and they put jobs at risk”, Simon Harris added.
The EU is in the process of planning possible retaliation measures. It has already set in process retaliation against Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs set at 25 percent. The EU is expected to sign off counter measures worth €26 billion on Wednesday.
On the wider US tariffs, the EU hopes it can convince Donald Trump to think again.
If that doesn’t work, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has said that the EU will come down hard on the US.
“We are now preparing for further countermeasures, to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail”, she said.
Trump’s newest tariffs are estimated to cover €290 billion worth of EU exports to the US.
Some EU countries want the European Commission to respond, not just with counter tariffs on goods, but also by hitting services.
That could be very damaging to Ireland and the tech giants headquartered here.
“We do not favour a digital services tax”, the Taoiseach said last week.
It’s a possibility that is likely to be raised by EU trade ministers today.
The EU said any retaliation would cause pain within the European Union too, but it would try and share out that burden so that no one member state receives a heavier blow than another.