Ireland has a “buffer” ready to use if Donald Trump follows through with his threats to the Irish economy, the Taoiseach says.
“We do need to be aware that the risk of a transatlantic trade shock has now increased”, the Taoiseach warned.
European leaders are in Budapest for a meeting of the pan-continental Euroepan Political Community. EU leaders will stay on in Hungary this evening to discuss the implications of Trump’s presidential win for the European Union.
“President Trump has won the election in the United States decisively. And obviously the European Union and Ireland will now work with the democratically elected president-elect of the United States,” said Taoiseach Simon Harris arriving in Budapest a short time ago.
During the election campaign, Trump promised to impose tariffs of 60 percent on China and 10-20 percent on the rest of the world, including Europe.
If he goes ahead with that when he takes office in January, it could have a huge impact on the European and Irish economies.
“One of the very reasons we have put money aside into funds to protect for the future is to make sure that if there is any shock to the Irish economy in the years ahead or to the European economy or any sort of transatlantic trade shock, that actually there is a buffer in place in the Irish economy”, said Simon Harris.
“I think it’s now important that in the days, weeks and months ahead, we assess what President Trump may do versus various policies that he has outlined.”
“Whilst there are many, many jobs in Ireland as a result of U.S. foreign direct investments, there are also now Irish jobs from Irish owned companies in every single state in the United States of America.”
The Belgian Prime Minister also noted that Europe and the US have a two-way relationship.
A trade war is not good for anyone, said Alexander De Croo. We need to talk.
Other European leaders arriving in Budapest were more concerned about what Trump will do over European defence and with Ukraine.
We have to give a clear message today that we support Ukraine as long and as much as needed, said Finland’s Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo. It is clear Europe has to do more for its own security.
The US is important, we need to work with him, we want to have a friendly partnership with the US, said Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Luc Frieden. We will have to see what Trump will do, whether he will apply in practice, for example on Ukraine. In he campaign it was vague, he said, so lets talk to him.
The Taoiseach, too, conceeded that despite Ireland’s neutral stance, European security is vitally important.
“There will be a need to invest more in defence and in working on UN security because just because you’re militarily neutral, it doesn’t mean that you’re immune from those risks.”