Ireland’s trade minister has been exchanging messages with his European counterparts as the EU braces for a possible inundation of Trump tariffs tomorrow.
US President, Donald Trump, has named 2 April as the day he will impose potentially a wide range of tariffs on countries around the world.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris TD, held a series of trade meetings with European counterparts on Monday.
The Tánaiste spoke by phone in turn with Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and later with the Dutch Foreign Trade Minister, Reinette Klever.
European countries with high trade with the US fear they will be severely hit by Trump’s tariffs.
Meanwhile, Croatia’s Foreign Minister, has been in Dublin for an in-person meeting with Simon Harris.
Part of their conversation was about “boosting economic cooperation”, the Croatian government said.
The US president has taken aim at Ireland for its pharmaceutical industry. Germany is worried about exports of cars. For the Netherlands and Denmark, it is consumer goods including beer and chocolate.
During the meetings, the Tánaiste’s office said that Simon Harris emphasised the importance of the European Union working closely together in a “calm, strategic and measured fashion” whilst continuing to engage positively with the United States.
“How Ireland and the EU respond to the coming days and weeks won’t just impact the months and years ahead but our economic model and wellbeing for the next generation,” the Tánaiste said following the meetings.
Last week, the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde warned that if there was a tit for tat, it could knock 0.5 percent off the Eurozone’s GDP.
The EU is expected to retaliate with counter measures, meaning new tariffs against the US.
The European Commission already plans to impose around €18 billion in counter measures as retaliation for US steel and aluminium tariffs announced last month.
The Taoiseach said he expected the EU to take some time to consider how best to respond to the 2 April tariffs since the European Union will only find out on the day itself what Trump has in store.